


Out of the Smoke

by annie_areyouokay



Series: Life Goes On (A Han/Leia Story) [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Princess Leia (Comics)
Genre: Betrayal, Distrust, Drunkenness, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Han is an idiot, Leia is too, Love Triangles, Mon Calamari (Star Wars), Rivalry, Saving the World, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-22 12:01:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30038406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annie_areyouokay/pseuds/annie_areyouokay
Summary: Leia Organa has a rebellion to run. She's far too busy to be thinking about a scoundrel like Han Solo. Then why can't she stop?
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo
Series: Life Goes On (A Han/Leia Story) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207385
Comments: 40
Kudos: 27





	1. In Which She Moves On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the formatting of the chapter layout, so I hope you guys are okay with this. This chapter is also shorter than usual, but I promise that the action is about to ramp UP in the coming chapters. Enjoy!

_**LEIA** _

Leia woke up the next day still fuming. Derrick had softly broken the news to her last night that Han hadn’t bothered to say goodbye to her last night, and she felt betrayed, which was bizarre. For her to have felt betrayed, she would have to have had trust and respect for the smuggler, which she didn’t. She knew what men like him were like: they didn’t care for anybody. So she braided her hair, applied makeup, put on her uniform and marched into the command center the next day and pretended nothing had happened.

“Princess Leia,” Rieekan greeted her.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Leia asked, trying to blink the sleep from her eyes.

“For you? Nothing.” This pulled Leia up short.

“And why not?”

“You’ve been through far too much to be working. You need to take a break, however brief.” Rieekan placed a hand on her shoulder. “Please, even if it’s only for a few days.”

“General, it’s unnecessary.”

“Why don’t you start working on the project you were telling me about?” Leia considered this. She had the idea of raising funds and running missions to help displaced Aldeeranians who’d had the good fortune to be on vacation or on a business trip when Aldeeran exploded. They now found themselves, like Leia, without family or a home, but they didn’t have the resources and alliances she did. 

“Well, I guess I could. But General, I can do that here.”

“Please, Your Highness. Take three days and just relax, start laying the groundwork. Go visit friends. Sleep.” Leia sighed.

“You’re not going to leave this alone, are you?”

“No.”

“Very well,” Leia conceded. She turned heel and wandered the halls for a moment, not exactly sure where to go. She didn’t feel like holing up in her room and crying (she’d done that all night) and she didn’t feel like starting on the project yet either. Speaking of, it really needed a name. The Fund for Displaced Aldeeranians? The Project to Aid Aldeeran? She wandered into the hangar thinking about it, then wrinkled her nose as she looked at the pouring rain. She went to leave, then heard her name called out. She broke into a grin.

“Luke!” She greeted.

“It’s good to see you. What are you up to today?” He asked, giving her a quick hug.

“Nothing. Rieekan put me on a three day probation for my planet getting destroyed.” She must be getting a little bit better if she could joke about it. In any case, it made Luke laugh. But Luke laughs at anything.

“Do you wanna do something then? I don’t have anything the rest of the afternoon.” Leia lit up. She could spend hours with the easygoing pilot. 

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I could teach you to fly an X-Wing,” Luke suggested.

“I don’t know if I’d be any good at it,” Leia confessed. “But how hard could it be?” Hard. It was very, very hard. Luke took her to a simulator which was supposed to test her ability to drive an X-Wing, but she failed almost every part of it. She had co-piloted a transport before when Imperial troops had killed the co-pilot, but she’d had step by step instructions from the pilot and it really wasn’t that hard to push a few buttons when somebody told you where they were. Piloting an entire ship by yourself was another issue. She couldn’t seem to turn quick enough and ended up running into fake trees or skyscrapers. She exited the simulation after a third attempt, discouraged.

“I think you did a little better that time!” Luke said encouragingly.

“I’m horrible at it,” Leia laughed.

“Why don’t you try using the Force?” Luke suggested.

“I’m not Force-sensitive.”

“I like to think everyone’s a little Force-sensitive,” Luke said. “At least try to let go of the control a little bit. Follow your instincts.”

“Okay, I’ll try again,” Leia surrendered, stepping back into the simulation. On this attempt, Leia did what Luke suggested and let go of her need for control. She held the controls a little looser, was less frantic to push the buttons. As a result, she had more energy to focus her attention on where she was going. It was almost natural to avoid the logs and tall trees in the swamp it had loaded for her, until a small green figure in a tan robe stepped in front of her vehicle, causing her to pull sharply up to avoid it. She brushed some branches, but managed to complete the simulation with a low grade. She stepped out, beaming. 

“Great job, Leia!”

“I got a 79!” She exclaimed. “What’s your highest score?”

“A 99,” Luke said sheepishly.

“Well, there’s room for improvement there.” Leia teased him. It felt good to just do other things with Luke that weren’t preparing to prepare Imperial bases or digging through trash. He was a good guy.

“Is there anything else you wanted to do today?” Luke asked.

“Not really. I meant it when I said I had nothing else to do.”

“Well, let’s get lunch, and then maybe I’ll teach you how to use a lightsaber.” Leia shivered, and she was sure Luke meant no harm from it, but all she could see when she looked down at the lightsaber swinging next to his leg was the red hot flashes of pain she felt as Darth Vader pressed one against her back. The scars were still fresh.

Leia made a routine where she would wake up, have breakfast with Luke and Derrick, and then work on the project for a few hours (which she eventually named the Project for Displaced Aldeeranians, which Luke teased her for being shortened to PDA, but she stuck to it.) She decided to start with Naboo, since so many Aldeeranians did business and vacationed there. They were similar planets, with temperate climates, an emphasis on art and culture, and beautiful greenery. Even if the Aldeeranians hadn’t been on Naboo when Aldeeran was destroyed, it’s a safe bet they fled there to have some resemblance of the former life.

Then, of course, she still had time to kill. So Derrick one day taught her how to read morse code, which was a mostly dead method of communication, but if Derrick had bothered to learn it, how useless could it be? Another day, Luke tried to teach her how to use his lightsaber, but she got so frightened after only igniting it that they ended up retreating to her room and playing card games. One day she discovered Henna was also on the base, and she joined Henna for a few hours at her work in the med center.

She taught her how to do simple stitches, how to properly apply bandages and cleanse wounds. It was soothing, through work, and Leia thought with pride that if she hadn’t been born into royalty, she would have made a good doctor. Henna looked over at her work stitching a pilot’s hand who had slammed down his motivator into its socket too hard. He was hissing in pain and shutting his eyes tight. Leia rolled her eyes. _My back was burnt to a crisp. I’m giving you stitches. Suck it up._

“Looks good, Leia,” Henna commented.

“Thanks. It’s kinda fun.”

“I’m glad you’re having a good time,” the pilot said sarcastically. Leia pricked his thumb with the needle, which hadn’t been nubbed. He yelped in pain.

“My mistake,” Leia murmured. Henna burst out laughing, and eventually Leia let out a giggle as well. The next morning she returned to work and, even though she didn’t like to admit it, it was nice to be able to just spend some time with friends. Every morning she would get breakfast with Derrick and Luke, and every night she and Henna would eat dinner together. It was nice to have a routine again. She didn’t think of Han.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you're enjoying the work so far. I would love to hear your thoughts!


	2. In Which They Meet Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia is just excited to take a break from the rainforest planet she'd been cooped up on. This was the last thing she'd expected to find.

_**LEIA** _

It was a breath of fresh air to get off of the perpetual rainstorm that was her new home. After three months of being on Alcyorn, Leia was sick and tired of the constant soggy feeling her clothes had and the cracks in the ceilings that always let drops of water leak onto the floor. Rieekan and Dodonna seemed all too sympathetic when Leia demanded to take a mission somewhere, literally anywhere. They took her word for it and sent her and Derrick to check on an encampment on Bantrax, which was a calm planet with crystal clear lakes and dense forests. The weather was perfect, and they admired the setting sun blazing in streaks of pink, orange and red as they walked from their transport. 

“Why couldn’t we have been assigned here?” Leia grumbled to Derrick.

“It’s a temporary encampment. The Empire would find it too fast. Honestly, I don’t even know why we’re here. It’s far too dangerous.” Derrick grabbed her hand protectively. Over the last few months, Derrick had begun to show the same affection and protectiveness he had when they were on Alderaan together. A few years ago, she found it endearing, but an act of friendship and nothing more. She wasn’t so sure it was platonic anymore, and she was less sure of how she felt about it. Still, she squeezed her hand back as they descended the rocky path to the encampment.

They were greeted by a young woman with one side of her hair shaved, wearing big sunglasses and smoking a cigar. She was the spitting image of what Leia thought rebels looked like, and had the cocky, self-important smirk to go with it. “Princess Leia, General Aberdeen. My name is Lieutenant Gulch. It’s good to see you two. I’m excited to show High Command what we’ve been working on.”

“By all means, lead the way,” Derrick said. “Just making sure, this is a safe encampment, yes?”

“We’ll be fine, Derrick,” Leia sighed, willing him to stop panicking. Lieutenant Gulch led them through the small encampment, which was a modest 50 tents with troops tiredly eating their dinner on stumps and the hard dirt. Leia felt out of place with her long green skirt and white blouse among the gruffly dressed men who leered at her as if she were a piece of meat and not their superior. She stared straight back at them, her eyes hard, and they seemed to retreat, their eyes averting and heads bowing. She smirked to herself.

“And as you can see, we’ve been clearing this part of the forest to hopefully make space for more troops. We hope to use this space to train troops in ground battle in the event the Empire finds one of our planet bases again.”

“Excellent idea,” Derrick noted. “It looks like things are very organized here, Lieutenant Gulch. High Command will be very pleased.” Gulch beamed with pride.

“Is there anything we can do to make life here easier? Within reason, of course,” Leia offered.

“Actually, High Command has already gotten us covered in terms of luxuries. We have a smuggler getting us fruits, sugar, whiskey all sorts of things. You can really tell they’re a government that cares about the people.” Leia looked at Derrick, whose face had paled in panic.

“I didn’t know we hired a smuggler,” she said.

“It was about a month ago,” Derrick said, scratching his chin. “I think we’ve seen everything we need to, Lieutenant. We’ll be leaving at 2000 hours.”

“So late?” Leia asked.

“Trust me,” Derrick said with a grin. She smiled back. “Good day, Lieutenant.”

“Fly safe,” Gulch said in goodbye. Derrick and Leia made it back to the transport, but instead of starting the power and taking off, he took Leia’s hand and took her out of the top hatch and onto the top of the ship. She looked out at the horizon, where the sun had almost completely set and the moon was rising over the treeline among the glittering stars. She sighed in admiration, watching how the bright moon reflected into the peaceful lake and cast a silver shadow onto the camp. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Derrick commented, coming back from the hatch with a blanket and a basket.

“It is… what are you doing?” She asked as he spread the blanket out.

“Picnic,” he grinned. “Like the old days. Remember when we snuck out of the palace and had a picnic by the river?” Leia snorted in laughter.

“They sent armed guards after us!”

“I thought they were going to behead me for stealing away the princess,” Derrick laughed as he took a bottle of wine out of the picnic basket with two wine glasses. “I just got grounded for a week, and I had to apologize to the guards for the trouble.”

“I got grounded too,” Leia admitted. “It was worth it though. What were we, 11?”

“I think I was 14, and you were 12.” Derrick poured her a very generous glass of wine and Leia picked it up and sipped. She paused by the taste alone, letting the flavors of aged grape, flowers and almonds seep into her tongue. She peeked at the wine label, and her eyes flooded with tears. It was a genuine Alderaanian wine.

“Where did you even get this?”

“I went on a diplomatic mission about a month ago, and they had some in the back of their winery. I guess not everything about Alderaan can be destroyed.”

“No, it can not,” Leia agreed. They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, and Leia leaned her head against Derrick’s shoulder, closing her eyes. Sometimes with him it felt like nothing had changed, and if she just kept her eyes closed long enough, they would float back to the riverside on Alderaan and their biggest concern would once again be sneaking around the guards and what colors they should pick for their outfits to the next party.

“Solo!” Somebody cried below. Leia’s eyes shot open, and she leaned forward, looking at the troops. They had emerged from their tents and were pointing up at the sky, hooting and hollering. Leia looked up to see the familiar shape of the Millenium Falcon descending onto the clearing, landing near their transport. Leia felt her blood begin to boil, and she stood straight up.

“Leia, are you okay?” Derrick asked nervously.

“I- What is he even doing here?” She sputtered, climbing down the hatch.

“Leia!” Derrick yelled after her. She ran out of the ship and towards the Falcon, where the ramp was descending. She was ready to give Han a piece of her mind, but the first figure that came out was Chewbacca, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Chewie?” She said cautiously. He turned at the sound of her voice and let out a happy roar, lumbering over to her to embrace her tightly. She choked on fur and felt the wind get knocked out of her from his heavy frame, but she hugged him back all the same, glad to see her old friend again. “Where have you guys been?”  _ Oh, I can’t understand him.  _ He rambled on anyway, and she tried to understand from hand gestures, but failed. They continued to hold each other until she saw two black boots encrusted with mud descend, and she remembered why she ran over in the first place.

“Chewie, give me a hand here,” Han yelled at him, not seeing Leia behind his frame. Chewie roared back at him, and Han’s face twisted. “Leia? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Captain,” she said icily. His face fell.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

“What are _ you  _ doing here?” She shot back. “Whatever happened to having nothing to do with the Alliance, and this being a waste of time?”

“Changed my mind.”

“Did you pay off your debt to Jabba?”

“No,” he said bitterly. “Jabba raised my bounty a few days before I got to Tatooine. I could barely make it past Mos Eisley without getting shot at.”

“So, what’s the plan?” She asked, feeling a cold chill run over her. She heard Derrick approaching behind her, but she didn’t turn around.

“Run some more missions. Stay away from big planets. Either get enough to pay off the bounty or wait until someone kills Jabba which, let’s be honest, could be any day now.” Han leaned against the bottom of the ship. “He’s not the most popular guy.”

“How’s it going, Han?” Derrick greeted.

“Derrick,” he said curtly. “It’s going fine. Chewie, come on, let’s get this stuff unloaded.” Han and Chewie went back inside the Falcon, and the troops began to filter into the ship to help unload the supplies. Leia turned to Derrick, fuming.

“Did you know he was back?” She hissed.

“Well, technically, he’s not back.” Derrick rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s contracted.”

“And who could have known about his employment? Perhaps the person working with Dodonna on staffing? You, perhaps?”

“Leia, I didn’t want you to get upset,” he pleaded. “I thought if you knew he was back it would give you false hope that he would stay. I didn’t even want to hire him: it was Dodonna’s idea.”

“You didn’t even tell me!” She yelled.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. She would have continued yelling at him, but a blaster shot rang out across the clearing, followed by screams of pain and the sounds of more blaster shots. They turned to see stormtroopers were descending upon the encampment, and the troops were getting mowed down like a child would stomp on ants. Derrick grabbed Leia’s hand and started running, but Leia paused, holding her ground.

“Leia!” She heard Han yell. She turned swiftly around and saw him motioning for her to get on the Falcon. “Hurry!” She yanked her arm free from Derrick and started sprinting for the ship, ignoring Derrick’s pleas for her to stop behind her. He grabbed her shoulder once again, yanking her away.

“Leia, stop!” He yelled at her. She paused. Derrick had never,  _ never  _ yelled.

“What?” She said breathlessly.

“I don’t trust him,” he growled. She narrowed her eyes, fuming.

“You hired him,” she pointed out. “And even if you don’t trust him, I do. We’re getting on that ship,” she said, climbing the ramp and nearly ramming straight into Han. He grabbed her shoulders steadying her.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” she said, backing up. She didn’t like how tense she got when Han grabbed her arms, and he released her, reaching for his blaster.

“Get in the back,” he ordered. She rolled her eyes and pulled out her own blaster, which Derrick insisted she wouldn’t need but she brought along anyways.

“Like hell I will,” she laughed. Derrick climbed onto the ramp, looking furious.

“Leia, we’re not going with him,” he said.

“You might not be,” Han said, pushing him out of his way as he fired at a stormtrooper who was quickly climbing the hill. “Chewie, start her up!”

“Shut up, Derrick,” Leia added, aiming her own blaster at another stormtrooper that went down with her blast. She smiled triumphantly.

“Leia, can you fly a ship?” Han asked. She paused. Technically she could. She got a 79 on her X-Wing simulation. Then again, it was a simulation, and for a much smaller ship.

“Kind of, depends on why you’re asking.”

“I’ll take that as a no,” he growled. “Get in.” He grabbed Derrick by the collar and slammed his hand on the ramp button, closing them off from the battle.

“Han, what are you doing? We can’t leave them!” Leia exclaimed, following him as he headed to the cockpit.

“I’m getting you out of here.” He burst into the cockpit and dropped into the pilot’s seat, taking the controls and raising into the air. She could hear the ship being blasted by stormtroopers, and she gripped the back of Han’s seat with white knuckles. Leia prayed that nothing important would be hit in the crossfire as they lifted up into the sky and Han went full throttle towards the atmosphere.

“As your General, I’m ordering you to stay on the ground!” Derrick commanded. Leia really couldn’t see his point. Yes, she wanted to stay and help, but this was Han’s ship. And as much as she wanted to pretend that she and Derrick should be just as expendable as any other troop, they knew lots of vital information that the Empire would attempt to weasel out of them if they were captured. Escape was the best course of action. 

“You’re not my General. I’m a contractor,” Han reminded him as the once peaceful encampment faded away as they ascended into the clouds.

“Calm down, Derrick,” Leia whispered to him.

“I am calm.”

“You’re not,” Leia said stubbornly. “I promise, everything is going to be okay.” Just then, a cannon shot hit the side of the ship’s hull and the ship rocked unsteadily. Derrick gave her a pointed look.

“Do you?”

“Either stop arguing or get the hell out of my cockpit,” Han ordered as he swerved to avoid the TIE that was now pursuing them. From what Leia could see, it was only one. “Aberdeen, can you operate the cannons on a ship like this?”

“I don’t think anyone can operate cannons on a ship like this,” Derrick spat. “This thing is a hunk of junk.”

“I can,” Leia said confidently, turning and running to the gunner’s stations. She had never done it before, but she felt his odd sense of confidence she had never felt before, as if she were invincible. She climbed down the ladder and strapped into the seat, acquainting herself with the controls. To her relief, it was nearly identical to the X-Wing controls she was used to, only with a trigger to shoot and a targeting computer to help lock her on. She put the headphones on and breathed heavily.

“Princess?” She heard Han’s muffled voice through the headphones.

“Yeah?”

“Alright, I’m swinging around. Try to hit him on this first pass, okay?” Han’s voice strained with exertion. Leia switched on the targeting computer and tried to make sense of the calculations and maps on the screen. With the controls, she swung the gun to move to point at the TIE fighter. It began to fire at the hull of the Falcon again, and Leia swiftly took a few shots, which hit close to the edge of the ship’s wing. She cursed quietly.

“I heard that, Your Highness.”

“Keep it our little secret, Captain,” Leia huffed.

“I’ll be discreet. I’m making another pass. Don’t make me come down there and do it for you.” She could hear that Han wasn’t being serious with his anger, but she didn’t want to prove him right that she couldn’t do it on her own. She straightened her shoulders and suddenly remembered what Luke said.  _ Trust your instincts.  _ What did Luke do that made him do that incredible shot? Impulsively, she turned off the targeting computer and narrowed her eyes. She could do this.

When the TIE headed straight for her, she aimed straight for it, her thumb hovering over the trigger. She felt almost a tangible pull stop her from pulling, like a little whisper that told her to move the controls to the left. She pressed the trigger and, with one single shot, the ship exploded into a million pieces. She heard the sounds of people rejoicing coming from her headset, and she threw it to the ground, excitedly climbing the ladder again. She ran back to the cockpit, trying to hide how excited she was that she actually made the shot.

“Good shot, Princess,” Han complimented. Chewie mumbled in agreement.

“I didn’t know you knew how to man those things.” Derrick’s tone was slightly disgusted, as if he couldn’t imagine the scenario she’d been in where she’d learned to shoot the Falcon’s blasters.  _ Me and Han, him leaning over my shoulder, hands caressing mine as he teaches me how to shoot-  _ where did that thought even come from? 

“Luke taught me how to fly the X-Wings,” she said. “It was pretty similar.”

“Let’s get you guys home. Strap in, we’re going to lightspeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't keep them separated for long. It is a Han/Leia story, after all! Leave a comment letting me know what you think!


	3. In Which They Run Their First Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han's first contracted mission with the Alliance is one that Leia can trust only him and Luke to accomplish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! More coming tomorrow.

**_HAN_ **

“Captain Solo, we can’t thank you enough,” General Dodonna said in a deep voice. General Rieekan nodded his agreement and Han ran his fingers through his hair, still trying to calm his nerves.

“It was a stroke of luck you were there,” Derrick said. His eyes flashed towards the younger general. He wasn’t sure what had happened between Derrick and Leia since he’d left, but they were considerably closer, and Derrick had been very clear when he hired Han that he was not to go anywhere near Alcyorn. He wasn’t sure, but he thought it was possible Derrick was trying to keep him and Leia seperated. He didn’t know why, but he knew Derrick did not like him. The feelings were mutual.

“I do expect to get paid for the trouble.” He heard a small laugh come from the other side of the room, and saw Leia trying to stifle her giggles. “Got something to say, Your Highness?”

“You haven’t changed a bit, Captain,” she said, composing herself. “Is money all you think about?”

“Look, at a certain point I have to stop performing free labor. And you’re not exactly the easiest person to keep alive.” The other three men in the room chuckled, and Leia rolled her eyes as if she couldn’t possibly understand what they were insinuating.  _ Getting captured by the Empire, refusing medical attention, shooting back instead of running away? You’re a handful.  _ She brushed a stray hair behind her ear and Han cleared his throat, averting his eyes.

“We’ll make sure you’re compensated, Captain,” General Rieekan assured him.

“In the meantime, I see no reason for us to be wasting your talents on supply runs. You’re an excellent pilot, and a hell of a shot I hear,” General Dodonna said, shuffling his papers. “I’d like to put you on more high-risk missions.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a great idea,” Derrick said. Han glared at him. No, it wasn’t, but why did he think so?

“And why not?” Leia challenged him.

“He’s shown absolutely no loyalty to the Alliance,” Derrick said as though this were obvious. “He’s erratic, unpredictable, and a criminal at that!” He grabbed Leia’s hand and pulled her closer to him as though he were trying to protect her from some crazed ruffian. Han put his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh at how indignantly angry Leia looked.

“We’re all criminals, General Aberdeen. We’re inciting insurrection against the Empire,” General Rieekan said calmly.

“Yes, and I think that Captain Solo’s… originality is one of his greatest assets,” Dodonna added. “I see no reason not to trust him. He clearly hates the Empire just as much as we do. Captain Solo, are you interested in taking on more high-level missions?”

“They pay more,” Leia said quickly, as if she was afraid he’d say no. Han shot Derrick a long, loaded look.

“Yeah, I’ll take them.” Leia beamed, and General Rieekan and Dodonna looked pleased.

“I’ll let you know when we have one for you,” General Dodonna sounded pleased. “In the meantime, can we offer you housing?”

“No, I’ll sleep on the Falcon.” Han couldn’t imagine sleeping anywhere but the Falcon.

“We’ll be in touch.” He left, not sure where to go. He started wandering back to the hangar, ready to tell Chewie the good news. Leia jogged to catch up with him, smiling.

“So, you’re staying?” She asked.

“For the time being.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that one before.” They walked together, and Han realized they had passed the entrance to the hangar, but he didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry about Derrick. I promise he’s not normally like that. He’s been weird today.”

“I’m sure he’s not normally like that,” Han said sarcastically. “He’s just afraid I’m going to whisk you away from him. He’s jealous, Princess.” Leia looked stunned, then started laughing.

“Jealous of what? There’s nothing between us.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t fighting feelings for the young princess, but he was positive Leia didn’t feel the same way. He pushed his thoughts aside. “And there’s nothing between Derrick and I either.”

“Oh, come on. You see the way he looks at you?” Han flicked her shoulder. “He’s head over heels.”

“That’s just Derrick,” Leia said, but it sounded like she wasn’t too convinced either. They walked in silence for a moment before Leia spoke again. “Why didn’t you say goodbye to me?” Han felt startled. She really wasn’t beating around the bush. He sighed. Was he going to tell the truth? He would be all too happy to show Leia how two-faced her friend was, but he also didn’t want to load more bad news. So he told her a half-truth.

“I didn’t want to lose my nerve. I thought you’d maybe try to talk me out of it.”

“I was going to,” Leia admitted, then gasped. “Oh! We need to see Luke! He’ll be so happy to see you!” She turned abruptly to a corridor he assumed Luke lived in and grabbed Han’s hand to turn him that way as well. Once they were walking the same pace again, she released his hand, and Han had a strange sadness that she’d let go.

“How is our Golden Boy?” 

“You know Luke. He thinks everything is an adventure,” Leia said, shaking her head. “Honestly, one of these days I’m afraid he’s going to take it too far. Jump into a burning building to save a droid, something like that.”

“Good to know he hasn’t changed.” Leia stopped in front of a door and pressed her hand to a sensor that opened the door. He wondered if Leia had access to every room in the base or if Luke had given her permission to add her hand to the sensor. They walked in, and Han took in the scenery. There were four beds in a generously spacious room with footlockers at the bottom of each. Luke was laying on his bed, reading a book. He looked up and broke into a toothy grin.

“Han!” Luke exclaimed, jumping up and embracing him tightly. “What are you doing here?”

“I just got done saving Her Majesty again.”

“What?” His voice dropped, and he grabbed Leia’s hands. “Leia, what happened?”

“Our mission to Bantrax was successful, but I guess useless now.” Leia sighed. “The entire encampment got destroyed by stormtroopers right as Derrick and I were getting ready to leave.”

“I was there doing a supply run,” Han explained.

“How long have you been doing supply runs for us?” Luke asked, confused.

“A month,” Leia said angrily. “Can you believe that? Derrick never even told me.”

“Wow, that’s crazy. Well, you’re here with us now.” Luke grinned. Han had to admit that it was nice to stand with Luke and Leia now. It felt familiar, even though they’d really only spent time together for a day or so. There was a natural friendship that fell between the three of them, one Han hadn’t even realized he’d missed.

It was several weeks before he would be sent out on his first top-secret mission which coincidentally one Leia would have to go on as well. It actually pertained specifically to her: they would be retrieving items from her Imperial apartment on Coruscant. They had provided one for her use when she was an Imperial Senator, and although Leia assured High Command she would never be so foolish as to leave something incriminating in the heavily guarded apartment, everyone agreed it would be best to pick it clean anyways. Luke would also be going as backup, as well as Wedge Antilles who would be undercover nearby in case anything went awry. 

So, the five of them (including Chewie, of course) piled into the Falcon early one morning and set course for Coruscant. Han hadn’t been to Coruscant in many years, since his clients were afraid to use a smuggler with such a recognizable ship for their illegal substances when they were committing crimes right under the Empire’s nose. He’d had no reason to go, and why not admit it? The place put him off a bit. It was a bustling city of people who either didn’t know of or didn’t care about the Empire’s crimes against humanity. Sickening.

“So, when we land on Coruscant, Luke and Wedge are going to pick up the speeder at the rental and then the three of us are going to drive to the apartments. Wedge, walk to the cantina across the street, get a drink, flirt with ladies. Look inconspicuous.” Han had gathered Luke, Wedge and Leia together at the table to discuss strategy.

“Shouldn’t be hard,” Luke joked, nudging Wedge’s arm.

“Won’t you be recognized?” Leia said, her voice edged with concern.

“High Command, in their infinite wisdom, has provided us with two Stormtrooper uniforms for us to sneak into the apartments with. Luke and I will be fine.”

“And what about me?” Han rolled his eyes. He knew this had been coming, but there was no way he was going to let Princess Leia Organa waltz through the Coruscant streets. She wouldn’t make it past the front gates before getting tackled to the ground.

“What about you, Princess?”

“I want to go. It’s my apartment, after all.” Leia fiddled anxiously with her necklace. Han had never, not once, seen her take that necklace off. Not even when she slept, which is technically a choking hazard, but he assumed Leia let it slide.

“No.”

“But-” 

“Leia, you’d be recognized in an instant,” Luke said soothingly.

“I know that,” she said, frustrated. “I just feel useless.”

“You’ll be on the radio with me the whole time,” Han reminded her. “You’ll have to tell me where to go anyways, I don’t know where you may have hidden stuff.”

“Fine,” Leia finally conceded.

“Sorry, Leia.” Luke said sympathetically.

_ “We’re landing, Cub.”  _ Chewie called from the cockpit. Han stretched his arms up and stood up, walking back into the cockpit to assist with landing. 

“Luke, go put your uniform on,” Han said over his shoulder. He closed the door to the cockpit behind him and it was relatively quiet in the cockpit as they communicated with the Coruscant landing officials, landing in the back of the hangar to be inconspicuous. Han felt a sudden anxiety at leaving Leia behind in an easily recognizable ship in the belly of the beast. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She’d have Chewie, and she was a pretty good shot. But he found himself breathing quicker than normal as they touched down and powered the Falcon down.

_ “Why are you afraid?”  _ Han looked over angrily at his co-pilot.

“I’m not.”

_ “You’re a horrible liar.”  _ Chewie punched his arm affectionately, and Han thought he meant it to be soft, but it sent Han stumbling into the wall.

“Easy, you big lump.”

_ “I’ll take care of her.”  _

“I know you will, bud.” Han was always thankful for his best friend, but sometimes he had an uncanny ability to pick up on people’s thoughts. He was glad Leia would have Chewie there to protect her.

_ “Be careful, Cub.” _

“I will,” Han said, saluting him as a way of goodbye. He met with Luke in the crew’s quarters and Luke helped him don the unnecessarily bulky Stormtrooper uniform (why have it so heavy if it isn’t even that good at protecting from blaster shots?) Then Luke and Wedge left to get the speeder and Han found himself wandering to the table where Leia had her datapad and her radio set up. Her blaster was also on the seat next to her, ready to grab should something go wrong. She looked up at him and smiled.

“It’s just like old times.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” he said, grinning. He’d almost forgotten he’d been wearing a Stormtrooper uniform when he and Luke had saved Leia. It felt like a lifetime ago, and at the same time felt like it had happened yesterday. He set the helmet on the table, trying to put off donning it for as long as possible.

“Hey,” she said suddenly, standing up. She adjusted the collar of his uniform, which had been twisted to dig into his neck. He lifted his chin slightly so she could fix it. When her fingers brushed against his skin, it felt like ice cold fire searing across his flesh, and his breath hitched. His brows narrowed in confusion. Never,  _ never,  _ had he ever been flustered. Women never had this kind of power over him. “Be careful today.”

“That’s the plan.” He carefully omitted saying ‘sweetheart’, as much as he wanted to, because it felt like they were having a tender moment. He didn’t want to ruin it.

“Do you have a scar on your chin?” She asked as his head dropped back down. Her fingertips brushed it softly.

“I do,” he said, clearing his throat, trying to keep his pulse from quickening.

“What’s it from?”

“Now, that’s not the kind of story that’s appropriate for young, impressionable princesses to be listening to,” he teased. They were next to the wall, so he leaned against it, bringing them closer together. Leia didn’t seem to mind, and he certainly didn’t either.

“I think I can handle it,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“It was on Corellia,” Han began. “I got in a fight with some guy at a bar who said Chewie wasn’t allowed to come inside, because fur was a ‘sanitary hazard’, or some bullshit like that. It got intense, so he broke a beer bottle and threw the broken part at me. It sliced me right on my chin.”

“You’re so noble,” Leia said, although it wasn’t laced with as much sarcasm as he’d expected.

“Hey, he’s my best friend.” He heard the heavy footsteps of Wedge and Luke returning onto the Falcon, so he backed up and ruffled his hair anxiously.

“Stay safe, Captain,” Leia murmured.

“I always am,” Han promised. He grabbed the helmet and put it on as he rounded the corner to meet Luke and Wedge, and together they hopped into the speeder and headed towards Leia’s apartment. The streets were full of Imperial citizens shopping, walking to work and enjoying the beautiful, sunny day. Han tried to focus on driving the speeder and not on the people milling about, but it was hard to peel his eyes away from people casually going about their business when he felt like he stuck out so much.

They parked the speeder across the street and Wedge left first, walking to the nearby cantina and disappearing inside. Han heard static in the helmet before he finally gave the confirmation that he was connected to the radio frequency and was successfully seated at the cantina. Han and Luke exchanged an anxious glance and left the speeder, trying to walk with purpose together to the apartment complex. The building was tall, one of the bigger skyscrapers in Coruscant, and he looked up at it doubtfully.

“Princess?” He whispered. After a moment of static, she responded.

“What’s wrong?”

“Which apartment is yours?” They were getting closer to the door, so he quieted his voice.

“Floor 27, Room 2747,” Leia responded swiftly. “Unless they took it off, there should still be a Harvest Festival wreath on the door.” Han and Luke were not questioned as they entered and they walked to the elevators without a hitch. Luke hit the 27th button and the elevator began to zoom up.

“This is weird,” Luke said.

“Don’t jinx it, kid,” Han advised. “Keep your cool. It’ll be over before you know it.”

“I know,” Luke sighed. “Maybe it’s just me but… it feels like an invasion of her privacy, you know?” Han glanced over at him and turned off his communicator just in case Leia was listening.

“Why would it be?”

“I don’t know,” Luke said, turning off his communicator as well. “It’s just, she doesn’t have a lot, you know? These are all of the personal belongings she has that haven’t been blown up or confiscated, and we’re just going to dig through it.”

“That’s why I suggested you and I go. She knows us, we’re not going to, you know, judge her or anything.” The elevator dinged as they reached the floor. They walked out, cautiously avoiding few people they came across in the complex. They found her room, 2747, with the wreath on the door wilted and dying. Han exchanged a look with Luke and they took Leia’s key and opened the door. He pushed it open and they peered inside to make sure it was safe.

Leia was his friend, and although he knew she was royalty, he often forgot about it. He tried not to look at her any different because of it, but seeing relics of her former life like this made it hard to look at it without any reverence. The furniture was immaculately polished, tapestries of former royalty hung on the walls, and it was refreshingly  _ not white.  _ She had clearly made an effort to make the stark white walls seem cozier and more homely. It must have been exhausting to be staring at sterile blank walls every day for work. 

Luke and Han split up, with Luke taking the kitchen and living room, while Han searched her office and bedroom. In her bedroom there wasn’t much: Leia had told him about a secret compartment below the bed under a tile, but there was nothing there. If anything had been stored there, the Empire had taken it. He rifled through her closet as well, and the fabrics were rich and heavy, and although he knew he couldn’t risk taking any of the clothes back to her, he felt tempted. Finally, he walked to the office.

The office was the simplest room in the apartment, with only her desk, a few bookshelves and an armchair off to the side. A blanket was strewn across the chair and a book was still opened face-down, as if she had gotten up for a moment while reading and had expected to return quickly. He walked quietly to the desk, his footsteps echoing in the room, and he opened the drawers. They were all empty, and he stared in frustration. He didn’t want to return to Leia completely empty-handed. Come to think of it, he hadn’t heard anything from her in awhile.  _ Shit, he turned off the communicator.  _ He quickly turned it back on.

“Han?” He heard her frantically repeating.

“I’m here, Princess. Sorry. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just couldn’t reach you or Luke,” she said, her voice still dripping with concern.

“I can’t find anything, Your Worship. The Empire has stripped it clean.”

“Nothing?” She sounded disappointed.

“Are there any secret hiding places here?” Han exited the office, leaving to find Luke.

“No, nothing like… wait! Yes, Han, there is!” Han stopped in his tracks. “Above my bed, there’s a loose panel, and I hid stuff up there. It might still be there.” He hurried back to the bedroom and stood on her bed. He felt around several of the panels before one finally gave way, and on the roof sat a single holo. He picked it up dejectedly.

“There’s only a holo, Princess.”

“Is there really?” She sounded stunned. “I forgot I put that up there.”

“What’s on it?” He asked, trying to open it. There was no button to press to turn the holo on and no way to retrieve the memory card inside. 

“There’s nothing, it’s empty,” she said quickly.

“Alright, keep your secrets,” he said. “Luke, let’s get out of here.” He never found out what was on that holo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment letting me know what you think! I love hearing your thoughts. Have a great night!


	4. In Which They Depart For Naboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han and Leia are headed to Naboo to for the first PDA mission, but they have an unexpected stowaway that shakes up the plan a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up for a *plot twist*.

**_LEIA_ ** **_  
  
_ **

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come on your mission?” Leia sighed softly. She and Derrick had been spending more and more time together, and as comforting as it was to have her old friend beside her once again, she often forgot how infuriatingly stubborn he could be. She fiddled with her necklace.

“I’m sure, Derrick.”

“Are you sure Solo will be okay flying you and Rieekan-”

“Captain Solo is perfectly capable of doing his job,” she snapped. He recoiled, his face narrowed with hurt.

“Damn. Sorry, Leia. I just worry about you, you know?” His hand slid into hers and she felt shame course through her. He never stopped caring about her, not for a second.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m just ready to go.” She had been working on the Project for Displaced Alderaanians for nearly a month now and they were ready for their first mission to Naboo. She and Rieekan had received intel of several refugees being harbored together by sympathetic citizens of Naboo. Leia still felt obligated to help them, because even though she technically didn’t rule over anything anymore, they were still her loyal subjects, and she was still the Princess of Aldeeran.

“You’re going to be great,” Derrick said, placing a reassuring kiss against her forehead. She closed her eyes contentedly. They heard a scuffling down the hallway and she turned quickly to see Luke and Han approaching. “Way to kill the mood,” Derrick grumbled. Leia brushed him to the side.

“Leia! Let’s get going,” Luke said, his smile as big as always. Every adventure was a fun little quest for him and never seemed like the dangerous task it really was. She wished she could share his courage. Han followed more slowly behind him, looking at his watch with concern.

“We need to get going, Princess,” he said. Derrick’s hand squeezed tighter, and Leia rolled her eyes. The childish rivalry between him and Han for who had the biggest ego was starting to get on her nerves.

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured Derrick. “Let’s go.” Leia, Luke and Han walked together down the hallway, and Leia cast Derrick one last smile over her shoulder. He was staring at them thoughtfully. Then they rounded the corner and she set her mind back on the task at hand- there was no room for Derrick and Han’s jealousy today. “Is Wedge coming?”

“Yes, him and some guy named Jenkins, and also that Henna girl.”

“Henna’s coming?” Leia was delighted to have her friend come along for the mission. She would be endlessly helpful too: there were bound to be injuries from people fleeing from Stormtroopers. Just days ago, the Empire announced they would be searching for remaining Aldeeranians to place them in “new homes”. She had no doubt these citizens were either killed or enslaved, which gave her all the more reason to be searching for them.

“Yes. I offered to fly her there, but I think she’s going with Wedge.” Han cast Leia an amused glance.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Leia rolled her eyes. They climbed onto the Falcon and Han and Chewie took off. Luke and Leia sat in the galley playing sabacc (which Leia wasn’t too bad at, but she couldn’t hope to beat Luke who played daily with his pilot friends), and discussing their days, trying to avoid the topic of mass genocide that was currently happening to Leia’s people.

“I’ve been getting better with the Force,” Luke said suddenly. Leia looked down and pretended to be intensely interested in her cards. She was supportive of Luke’s endeavors, of course, and was endlessly impressed by him, but she couldn’t deny that the Force rubbed her the wrong way. It was this secretive little magical field that everyone had, but only few could access. It was totally unfair. Maybe she was just jealous that he could use it and she couldn’t.

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re getting better at it.”

“I can start lifting things now. Well, kinda. Only small things. And it’s really tiring.” Luke looked bashful.

“What’s tiring?” Han exited the cockpit, stretching his arms up. The sleeves of his shirt dropped slightly, exposing the strong muscles underneath the fabric. Leia looked away quickly, a blush rising on her face.

“He can lift things with the Force now,” Leia shared.

“Can he?” Han sounded doubtful. “Alright, let’s see it then.”

“Wh- What?”

“Lift something,” Han said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. He took off his watch and placed it on the table, pointing at it teasingly. “Lift my watch. 

“I’ll try,” Luke said earnestly, closing his eyes. His hand lifted with such reverence Leia was almost frightened by the somber expression on the usually bubbly boy’s face. A few seconds of silence passed before slowly the watch lifted into the air shakily, coming up a few inches before dropping back to the table with a light thud. Luke’s eyes burst open excitedly.

“Did I do it?”

“Yes!” Leia exclaimed. “Luke, that was incredible.” Han looked dumbfounded.

“How did you do that?”

“The Force,” Luke replied.

“Yes, I know, but how?” Han picked the watch back up and examined it as if he expected it to have sprouted wings.

“I don’t know,” Luke leaned back as though he were tired out by the ordeal, though his eyes still gleamed with the elation of victory. “I just picture the watch in my mind, and it’s like I can feel it in my hand, and then I just… command it to lift. It’s kinda like flying. You’re so familiar with the ship and where the buttons are that you don’t even think about it, you just flip the lever and press the trigger.”

“I understand that,” Han said, nodding his head slightly. He put his watch back on, still looking a little shaken.

“Are you okay?” Leia asked, giggling.

“It’s just… I thought it was fake, that’s all,” Han said, shuffling his feet.

“It’s not,” Luke said.

“Thanks,” Han rolled his eyes and sat down next to Leia. “Leia, play your third card on your right.”

“What? Han, don’t help her!” Luke exclaimed, straightening back up. 

“She needs all the help she can get. Princess, you’re hopeless at this game.”

“I’ve never had reason to play it,” Leia said with a smile. “This is a smugglers game. The kind scoundrels play.”

“Oh, perfect for you, then,” Han nodded importantly. “Third on your right.”

After several hours of playing cards, napping and of Han and Chewie arguing over God knows what (it’s hard to keep track of a conversation when you can only understand half of it), they finally landed on Naboo, and they only had to step off of the Falcon for Leia to sigh with contentment. Naboo was perfectly temperate, and the sun shone brightly down on them. The sun felt so good on her skin, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the sun. It would have to have been when they were on Bantrax. Suddenly, she was remembering the attack on the Bantrax camp, and the imminent threat from the Empire, and the sun felt a little less welcoming.

“You look great, Princess,” Han said, pulling on one of her long braids.

“Yeah, I know, I look stupid,” she said, rolling her eyes. She was trying to blend in with the Naboo citizens, and from what she could remember from her brief visits to the planet, the population wore heavy, jewel toned garments, and wore their hair long. Leia still didn’t feel comfortable letting her hair run completely free, because as stupid as it was, it felt immodest, so she’d braided her hair down into two practical braids that hit against the dark blue dress one of the supply runners had bought for her disguise.

“No, I mean it. Blue suits you,” Han added as Luke pulled around with a speeder. He looked giddy that Han had actually allowed him to fly the speeder instead of insisting he fly it himself.

“I’ve never worn it,” Leia said truthfully.

“Seriously? You’ve never worn blue?” Han looked at her as though he thought she might be lying.

“I don’t know, maybe when I was, like, six,” Leia thought aloud. “But all princesses on Alderaan wear white, and it was the color of my Senatorial gown as well.”

“Why white?” Han asked.

“It’s the color of purity.”

“That’s weird,” Han looked at her quickly, as if he were expecting her to be upset. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to, you know, disrespect your culture. It just sounds kind of sexist to me.” She had to fight the smile threatening to spread on her face. His sentiments on the color dresses she wore felt oddly sweet, as though he didn’t think of her purity as being something important to him. Then again, that sounded like something a scoundrel wouldn’t care about anyways. Then they got in the speeder and dropped the subject.

“Wedge commed me, said to meet him at the cantina down the street.” Luke was driving very carefully, seemingly confused by the strange speeder rules in Naboo.

“Sounds good,” Han agreed.

“It won’t look suspicious?” Leia questioned. “A bunch of strangely dressed, rough around the edges rebels sneaking around a cantina? Especially us three?”

“Naboo ain’t Coruscant,” Han said dismissively. “No one’s gonna be looking for us here.”

“Maybe not you,” Leia mumbled. She knew there was one Alderaanian in particular that the Empire would love to permanently silence- her. Maybe Han was trying to calm her fears, but if he was, it wasn’t working. She snuck a sideways glance at him. Han was always a little on edge, never completely comfortable with the situation, but he did look particularly tense. His hand settled close to his blaster. She looked away when she realized her gaze had shifted to his jaw line and when she caught herself admiring the way the warm Naboo sun shone on his skin.

Luke stopped the speeder and they all walked out, trying to keep a low profile without looking like they were actively avoiding arousing suspicion. They walked into the cantina, and Han gave Leia a look before jerking his head to one of the booths off to the side. Nodding in agreement, she grabbed Luke’s hand and hurried into the booth while Han continued further into the bar to search for their companions.

“Hey, what’s this about?” Luke protested, trying to stand back up again from the seat Leia had pushed him into. She put a finger to her mouth to silence him and sat down on the other side of the table.

“One man walking around a cantina is much less recognizable than the trio of rebels who stormed the Death Star and made it out alive,” Leia countered. “He’ll be back in a second.”

“You guys have a weird way of communicating,” Luke said. “It’s like you know what he’s trying to tell you.”

“Isn’t the Force like that?” She said quickly, trying to change the subject as a light blush rose to her cheeks. She shook her head in confusion. Why was she embarrassed?

“Well, yes,” he conceded. “But you guys are closer than you let on. It’s just funny to see.”

“What’s funny?”

“Well, you pretend like you can’t stand each other, and then you get upset when he tries to leave and he gets jealous when Derrick puts his arm around your shoulders.”  
“He gets jealous?” Leia was at first shocked, and a little excited, and then her spirits fell when she caught Luke’s knowing smile. She looked away with a huff. “It’s none of your business.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said cheekily. “I just think you need to face your feelings, Leia.”

“What feelings?” Her blush intensified.

“You like Han,” he insisted.

“I do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not!” 

“Do too!” When had the mission become a childish game? Leia broke off from the argument and picked at the velvet seat. She tried to calm herself by listening to the soft music that thankfully was not from an overwhelming cantina band and was mercifully provided from an intimate trio of Twi'leks playing strange string instruments that sounded like a harp, only more dissonant and with a bigger bass. “Hey, I’m sorry,” Luke apologized. “You’re right, it’s none of my business. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay,” Leia smiled. It was hard to stay mad at his stupid watery eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right.”

“That’s what I’m saying, because-” Luke cut off abruptly when Han reappeared, his face twisted with anger. “Han, what’s wrong, bud?”

“Last minute surprise, sweetheart,” he growled to Leia. “Guess who decided to show up?” Behind him, Wedge, Henna and the young man she supposed to be Jenkins looked at her apologetically and parted to reveal what made Han so angry.

“Derrick!”

**_HAN_ **

“Derrick, why are you here?” Leia sounded pissed. “I told you, I don’t need you here. We’re fine.”

“Leia, I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Derrick said apologetically. “I just kept having these awful visions of something happening to you… I’m sorry. I’ll leave if you really want me to.”  _ Yes.  _ Yes. Yes!

“No, no, it’s okay,” Leia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers.  _ No!  _ “Of course you can stay. You’re here now, and we could use your help. I just wish you didn’t feel like you had to.”

“Wherever you are is where I want to be.” Han stifled laughter. He couldn’t believe Leia was actually buying into this lovey-dovey bullshit. Then again, he could just be laughing to cover up the red hot rage burning deep in his belly.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Henna said behind him, her voice dry, “but we really need to get going. While you three have been enjoying yourselves, Wedge, Jenkins and I have managed to make contact with a group of refugees. They’re ready for us now, if we can hurry and get there before dinner time. They’d like to have it clear by then.”

“Why?” Luke asked.

“Prayer time,” Leia and Derrick said together. They flashed each other a knowing glance and smiled.

“What the hell is prayer time?” Han asked.

“It’s a very intimate thing for families to do together. They pray and give thanks for their day, and it’s always during dinner time. It makes sense they’d want to keep the tradition alive,” Derrick responded.

“We should get them a gift,” Leia said suddenly with a gasp. “God, I’d completely forgotten.”

“It’s customary in Alderaan to bring a gift to new families, families in grief. You get the picture,” Derrick explained quickly to the confused group.

“Well, why don’t me and Jenkins hit the marketplace real quick and pick up some wine, or something,” Henna suggested. “We’re the only people here without a bounty on our heads.”

“Well, I don’t have a bounty either,” Derrick reminded them. Han blinked and remembered that Derrick’s involvement with the Alliance was still secret in the eyes of the Empire, even though they had to be keeping tabs on him, since his father was so influential in politics. “And a gift means nothing if you don’t pick it out yourself. Leia and I will go, and the rest of you can go ahead and meet them there.”

“Yeah, right.” Han rolled his eyes and pushed Derrick aside lightly to walk over to Luke. “You’re not the one whose contract is going to be broken if something happens to Her Royal Clumsiness over there. Give me the keys, Luke.”

“Oh, you’re not driving the speeder. You’re not coming,” Derrick said lightly. “Luke, give me the keys.” Luke looked between the two of them anxiously, as though he was undecided on who to obey. Should he be loyal to his war buddy who’d dug through sludge with him (the obvious choice), or should he be loyal to the backstabbing childish general who technically was his employer?

“Luke, come on. Give me the keys,” Han said firmly.

“This is a command from your General, Skywalker. Keys. Now.”

“Oh my God!” Leia exclaimed suddenly, slamming her hands on the table. The group went silent and they stared in astonishment at the petite figure fuming in the booth. “Are you two going to be like this for the entire mission? Squabbling over who gets to drive, what, two blocks? Luke, give me the keys. I’m driving.” Without hesitation, Luke dropped the keys into her hands and she stalked out of the cantina. Han and Derrick exchanged a glance, their argument still fresh, but also bafflement and surprise mingling in their gaze. They hurried to follow her, hands on blasters just in case.

Leia was silently brooding in the car, and they both looked at the front seat, wondering who should sit beside her. They exchanged a glance, and although the rivalry was still there, there was more hesitation now as they realized that this was becoming less about which man was better for Leia, but which man Leia would be able to put up with. In silent agreement, they both climbed into the back, and Leia stepped on the gas without hesitation, pulling into the street at a furious pace.

“Sorry, Leia,” Derrick mumbled.

“You should be. Drawing attention to us, in the middle of a crowded cantina. What is wrong with you?” Leia half-heartedly threw her comlink into the backseat in Derrick’s direction, but Han could tell she was coming off of her heated emotional high. “What about you? Are you sorry too?” Leia threw a glance at Han.

“Not really, no.” Derrick gave him a hard hit on the arm with warning eyes. 

“Don’t press her buttons,” Derrick whispered.

“Well, I’m not sorry,” Han said stubbornly.

“Yeah, I figured,” Leia said, her jaw suddenly hard. Han leaned back, still angry. It was literally his job to drive her around! It wasn’t his fault Derrick showed up and started acting like he was strong enough to protect the entire galaxy if he wanted to. Han was Leia’s pilot and her bodyguard for the mission, and no matter how much she wanted him to go away, he was going to do his damn job. He also didn’t want Derrick and Leia to have a fun little afternoon in the marketplace by themselves. When they finally got to a parking deck, Leia stopped abruptly, staring into space as though she’d suddenly forgotten how to drive. Then she cast a bashful glance back at Derrick. He grinned goodnaturedly.

“Do you still need me to-”

“Yeah.” Leia parked the car and she and Derrick exited. Confused, Han exited as well, standing beside Leia as Derrick walked around the speeder to get into the driver’s seat.

“Why is he driving?” He whispered to her.

“I can’t- okay, Han, you can’t laugh,” she huffed.

“I promise.”

“I can’t park a speeder.” Han burst into laughter, and she took a swipe at him.

“You promised!”

“You can drive in the busy streets of Naboo, but you can’t park the damn speeder?”

“My parents never taught me,” she whined.

“Is that not part of princess school? They couldn’t fit it in between tiara design and salad etiquette?”

“What the hell is salad etiquette?” Leia wrinkled her nose, and some of her smile was beginning to return.

“Not my education. You tell me, Your Worship.” Derrick approached them, an apologetic smile on his face.

“Are we good?” He asked Leia.

“Yes,” she sighed, with a sideways glance at Han. “He’s still on thin ice.”

“Alright, stay mad,” Han smiled. They wandered through the marketplace for a bit, and although he knew what would make a great gift on Corellia (booze) he didn’t have the slightest idea what somebody from Alderaan would want, so he left the shopping to Derrick and Leia. They milled about the stores for a moment before coming upon a candy shop.

“How many children?” Leia asked Derrick.

“Four, I think. Two are siblings, and the other pair are from different families. None of their parents made it.” Han felt his heart swell in grief for the kids. Leia looked equally disturbed, but her face softened as she picked out brightly colored sweets for each of them. Then they wandered into a jewelry shop, and Leia fixed herself on a simple strand of pearls.

“A lot of Alderaanian women wear pearls,” Leia explained to him as she admired them. “They symbolize-”

“Purity?” He finished. She nodded.

“I used to wear pearls all the time.”

“Why don’t you now?” He asked.

“Well, they’re not practical.” She held them up to her neckline anyways, looking into the mirror. “And I already have a necklace.” He fixed his gaze on the silver necklace, which he’d noticed several times before, but had never brought it up.

“Why don’t you ever take that one off?”

“It was a gift,” she said simply. “One I don’t trust people enough to leave behind, for any period of time.” He shrugged. Leia was weird about some things, but maybe it’s just an Alderaan custom. “Can you find Derrick? I want to see if he likes these. I might get this for the lady of the house, whoever she may be.” He wandered further into the store, trying to find where Derrick had gone. He found him crouched over a table of fine pieces of jewelry.  _ Rings. _

“Derrick?” He called. “Leia wants you.” Derrick jumped up, startled, and blushed deeply, hiding something behind his back.

“Tell her I’ll be a second,” he waved Han off.

“I think she’s picked something out, so you can stop looking,” Han advised him.

“This… isn’t for the gift,” Derrick said awkwardly. He dropped his hand and in it he held a tiny box. Han glanced again at the rings, then the box, then at Derrick’s beet red face. Oh.

“Leia’s a lucky woman,” he said, his voice hard.

“I’m the lucky one,” Derrick said dismissively.

“Damn straight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm genuinely so excited to hear the response from this chapter. What do you guys think so far? Let me know in the comments!


	5. In Which She Finds Her People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia finally arrives at the home of the refugees.

**LEIA**

Han drove completely silently the entire way to the refugee’s home. She couldn’t pretend this wasn’t a slight relief, as a silent Han was better than an angry Han, but she almost missed his banter and his teasing. As much as she hated to admit it. She was afraid it was something she did wrong, but she couldn’t remember ever offending him, so she sat with Derrick in the back, since Luke was occupying the front. She stared out the window at the passing murals and buildings, all of which were stunningly gorgeous. One mural showed a woman, tall, with long red robes and a white painted face. Her hands were raised to her face as though she were surrendering, though her face was calm, and Leia recognized this as some woman of Naboo royalty, probably a queen. Then, while the light was flashing on the side of the building, she saw the woman in the mural slowly turn to look at her, her face crumbling in sadness as she locked eyes with Leia. Then the building faded from view. Suddenly dizzy, Leia gasped.

“Leia?” Derrick said questioningly.

“Did you see that?” She asked, feeling out of breath. “The mural. It moved.”

“What? Leia, that makes no sense.” Derrick’s hand brushed her own, and he wove his fingers between hers, squeezing them comfortingly. Luke turned to look at her, his face filled with concern.

“The mural moved?”

“Yes,” she said.

“It must have been some kind of trick of the sunlight,” Derrick insisted. Leia tried to calm herself.

“Maybe,” Leia conceded, and although Luke settled back down, Derrick continued to sneak sideways glances at her. It was another hour of silence before they reached the refugees, and although the drive was tense and awkward, the scenery was beautiful. She watched as the roads changed from thriving cities of gold and silver, to towering mansions with sprawling gardens, then the roads began to crumble into dirt trails and the only break between farmland was the occasional humble cottage. Han pulled the speeder off the road next to a flat house with a modest vineyard to the side, ripe with purple grapes. Derrick got out and opened the door for Leia, and she stepped out. The grass was spongy underneath, and the heat was balmy but not unpleasant. They waited a few moments for Wedge, Henna and Jenkins to arrive in a separate speeder.

“Alright, let’s save some lives,” Henna said with a smile.

“Jenkins and I will stay outside to watch for trouble,” Wedge informed Leia as they neared the house. The walls of the quaint home were cracked, and in the cracks of the tan walls grew ivy and ferns, and the whole house had a refreshingly careless look about it.

“That’s wise,” Leia agreed. “We shouldn’t be long, I don’t think we’re staying for dinner.” They reached the door, and Leia knocked on it softly, unsure of how to approach the situation. The refugees were aware that somebody was coming, but she wasn’t sure how much the refugees would trust her and her companions. The door swung open and the first thing Leia assumed about the woman was how tired she looked. She wore a dirty apron, and her hair was tied up in modest Alderaniaan braids. Her face was smeared with jam, and behind her Leia could see two children playing tag. The woman’s face widened with shock and she fell to her feet.

“Your Highness! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um,” Leia said, very un-royal-like. “There’s no need for that. And I’m here to help in any way I can,” she added as she put a hand on the woman’s shoulder to guide her back up. The woman’s eyes were brimmed with tears.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. You have no idea how wonderful it is to see you. We were all devastated when the Empire announced you’d been executed.” Her eyes narrowed. “They lied, didn’t they?”  
“They lied about a lot of things,” Leia said sadly. The woman nodded in agreement.

“I’m sorry about the state of things. This is one of my sister’s houses, and she’s been kind enough to let us use it, but there’s too many people here. I have 7 other adults here, and 4 kids besides.” Leia did the math quickly in her head, but Luke beat her to it.

“12 people? This house isn’t much bigger than Ben’s hut was on Tatooine,” he protested.

“Not my idea,” she shrugged. “But word spread about my harboring a few others, and some more people came. I couldn’t turn them away. But now… I don’t know what we’ll do.” The woman stepped to the side to invite Leia inside. “Please, come inside. I’m afraid it’s not much, but anything of ours you’re welcome to, Your Highness.” Leia felt her heart swell. It was so good to see that there were still loyal Alderaniaan subjects, devoted to the monarchy as they were before their home was destroyed.

“My name is Daria,” the woman introduced herself. “These two kids who don’t know how to behave in front of royalty are mine, they’re Jonah and Kila. Kila! Cut it out!” The two kids running around paused and gawked at Leia, straightening up and brushing dust off of their robes.

“You’re the princess!” The girl, Kila, exclaimed.

“That’s right,” Leia nodded.

“You’re prettier in person,” Jonah said. She heard the group chuckle behind her, and she gave them a backwards glance.

“I’m sorry about their behaviour,” Daria excused. “They’re a bit cooped up.”

“That’s okay,” Leia said quickly, smiling. “Reminds me of them two.” She pointed at Luke and Han, who looked at her incredulously.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Han said smugly.

“If it’s alright with you, Han and Luke can take the children outside so they can play supervised, and Henna here can take a look at any injuries your group might have.” Henna nodded happily, and although Luke looked okay with the sudden change of plans, Han shot her a dirty look. She sighed and shot him an exasperated glance.  _ Just suck it up and do it, okay? _

“That would be wonderful. If it’s alright by you two, could you take the other two as well? This one is Uzo,” Daria said, pointing at one of the children watching a holo program with several of the adults. Well, they were watching it, but they were now staring at Leia as though she’d sprouted a third head. “And the other one… well, I don’t know where he is, but he doesn’t speak. I don’t know his name.” 

“Sure, we’ll take them!” Luke said, gesturing for them to follow him. “Come on, I’ll teach you guys how we played tag on Tatooine.” They all exited, with Han shooting Leia one more look, and the door closed shut behind them. They walked over to the group of adults, who all worshiped the very ground Leia walked on. She was a little bit embarrassed, because although things like this used to happen all the time, she had a bit of a reprieve since joining the Alliance. Sure, people still revered her and spoke to her formally, but she’d forgotten the esteem with which people used to hold her in. She wasn’t sure if she’d missed it.

“You must stay for dinner,” Daria insisted.

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Leia tried to deny her, but Daria insisted. At this, Leia sent Jenkins to a nearby marketplace to buy enough food for everyone to eat until their bellies were full. While they waited for him to return, Henna tended to the injuries people had been inflicted. One woman, her face scarred and bloody, had narrowly dodged a Stormtrooper’s blast in a central city and fallen several stories off a balcony, then walked all the way to the remote house after hearing about it from a grocer. Leia looked around at the citizens,  _ her  _ citizens, all of whom had different jobs and different lives, but were brought together by tragedy and circumstance. She realized that this is what she was fighting for: for her people, who’d been wronged by the Empire a million times over She wished with all of her soul that she could reverse time to when her citizens were safe. Feeling overwhelmed by her revelation, she wandered into a separate bedroom, needing to sit down alone for a moment.

She sat down on the bed and buried her face in her hands. A small closet was opposite of her, and she stared at the bland robes, trying to remember the last time she’d had a good night’s sleep. The more she sat, the more she got a tingling sensation she was being watched. She peered into the closet to see two eyes staring back at her. She gasped for a moment before calming herself. This was the fourth kid. She leaned forward a bit and beckoned for him to come out.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” He buried his face more into his knees. “I’m Princess Leia Organa. I ruled over Alderaan, and I’m here to help.” He peeked out a bit from his arms, but didn’t move. “Do you know where your parents are?” He shook his head. “Were they on Alderaan?” He nodded. She sighed. “Mine were too. I know it’s hard. I think about them every day. Mom, Dad. What am I supposed to do without them?” Slowly his head began to rise. “But it’s okay. We’re going to get through this. We’re strong. The Empire is not going to hurt us again.” The boy was now looking at her, his eyes hopeful. He had striking green eyes and long black hair that swooped over his forehead. “Come on. They’re playing tag outside.” He took her outstretched hand, and as she rose to walk with him outside, she saw Han leaning across the doorway, a small smile on his lips.

“What?” She said defensively.

“Dinner’s ready.”

“Oh.” Leia stood still, not sure what to say. How much had he heard? The boy waddled past them in pursuit of food, but Leia and Han’s eyes were still interlocked.

“You really care about them,” he commented.

“They’re my people,” she said simply.

“Come on, guys!” Luke called to them. “Hurry up. The food looks good.” Leia pushed past Han, eager to eat as well. The food was delicious, and after Luke and Han ate, they relieved Wedge and Jenkins so they too could eat. Finally, they all gathered outside in the vineyard, the adults mingling and sharing gossip while the children played with Jenkins and Luke in the fields. Leia presented Daria with the necklace of pearls, for which Daria gave Leia a long and emotional embrace. Then she gave the kids their candy, and they sat in the grass, eating it with joyful smiles on their faces. Even the nameless little kid with black hair had a ghost of a smile on his sugarcoated face.

“We do all of this to invite you to join the Alliance,” Leia finished after telling the adults the entire story of the destruction of Alderaan and the Project for Displaced Alderaniaans. “If you’re willing to come, that is.”

“Where the princess goes, I go,” Daria said simply.

“You’ve done more for us than I thought would be possible in your position,” the woman who survived the balcony fall added. “We’ll come.” The other men and women nodded their assent, and it was finally time for them to say goodbye. The kids, Jonah, Kila, Uzo and the boy with black hair all whined when it was time for the rebels to depart for the night.

“There’s too many of us to stay here for the night,” Derrick explained. “We’ll be back tomorrow.”

“But you never finished telling me about that dance you went to,” Kila complained to Leia through her yawning.

“It’s time for you four to go to bed.” Leia said firmly.

“We don’t want to!” Uzo insisted.

“Please spend the night,” Jonah begged. The black-haired boy didn’t speak, but nodded as well. The group of exhausted rebels behind her sighed.

“I can’t,” she said, feeling herself beginning to cave, “but I could tuck you all in?” The children all bounced for joy and hurried inside. The group laughed.

“They’re a strange bunch,” Jenkins commented.

“It’s the first sign of hope they’ve seen in months,” Wedge said sympathetically. “I think they’re excited to see that things might change.”

“Henna, Wedge, Jenkins, you can go ahead and secure the hotel,” Derrick ordered decisively. “Luke, Han, start up the speeder.”

“Hell no, I’m not driving,” Han said. His voice was a little slurred, but Leia suspected this was more out of laziness than him actually having drunk too much wine at dinner. “You start up the speeder, and I’ll make sure none of these sick and injured refugees kill Leia while she tucks in the orphan children to bed.” His argument did shut Derrick’s protests down, and the group quietly split to go about their tasks. Han and Leia walked back into the building together. Han looked up at the stars, admiring them.

“You don’t get enough of them in space?” Leia teased. He looked down at her, a twinkle in his eyes. She felt her pulse quicken as they walked a little closer together.

“They’re nice,” he said simply. “I like them.”

“They are nice,” Leia agreed. His fingers brushed hers, and he pulled away suddenly as if he hadn’t meant to. He opened the door quickly for her.

“Try to be fast,” he said gruffly, avoiding her gaze. She hurried in and escorted herself quietly into a side room where small pallets with blankets and pillows were set up for each of the kids. They were already sitting expectantly in their pallets, looking up at her with eyes brimming with excitement. She tucked the blanket around each of them, smoothing the hair out of their faces and wishing them restful sleep. She prayed individually for Jonah, Kira and Uzo, and finally fell onto the boy with the blank hair.

“I have to go, but I’ll be here tomorrow morning to take you to your new home.” The boy’s face scrunched with fear. “Don’t worry. It’s a little rainy, but it’s clean, and the food is good. And I’ll be there. So will Han and Luke, and all of my friends. And your new friends will be there too.” She tucked the blanket safely around him, and kissed him lightly on the forehead. “Sleep well, young one. You have a lifetime of possibility ahead of you.” He smiled back at her and closed his eyes tightly, as though trying to prove to her that he was able to follow her demands. She smiled and looked around at the group of resting children, feeling proud that she was able to comfort them, even if it was only for one night.

The following morning, Henna, Wedge and Jenkins arrived a few minutes earlier than them. Even with the extra time, they weren’t able to comm Han in time, so when Leia and the other three arrived, they took in the whole scene. Derrick and Han tried to shield her from the sight, but she pushed past time, insistent on seeing the damage the Empire had waged against her people. The smoke that still filtered from the house stung her nostrils, and the blood smeared on the outer walls were burned into her memory. Most hauntingly, the last thing she saw before she collapsed sobbing into Luke’s arms, was the hand of the black-haired boy peeking out from the front door, sprawled on the ground, arm smeared with blood, his hands still grasping some of the brightly colored sweets she’d bought him.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a little sad :( but it was something I've been planning for awhile. Thank you for all of the sweet comments. Leave one letting me know what you think of today's chapter!


	6. In Which They Party 'Till The Sun Comes Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is turning 20 years old today- but he isn't the only birthday on base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA the obligatory: "Leia and Luke have the same birthday and Leia and Han have a moment at his party chapter".

**HAN**

It stopped raining. Miraculously, for one whole hour, it didn’t rain. The sun shone brightly down through the trees, and tiny droplets of water that were caught on the leaves created a musical plinking sound. The hangar, which was usually bustling with activity, stood in silent awe at the open hangar doors at the rare sight. Han didn’t even hesitate as he turned heel right after landing, searching for the one person he knew would love this view more than anyone else. But she wasn’t in the command center, wasn’t in her room, or Luke’s, and wasn’t in the dining hall either. He decided to run back to the hanger when he ran smack into her.

“Ow!” She cried.

“Oh, shit,” he cursed. “Sorry, Leia. I was actually looking for you.” He placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her as she rubbed her forehead where it had hit his chest.

“Really?” She said, trying to hide a smile. “I was looking for you too.”

“What? Why?” He let go of her and they began to walk towards the hangar doors together.

“Did you see? It stopped raining,” she whispered as though it were a huge secret. He laughed.

“I did, that’s why I was looking for you. You can finally shut up about it always raining now,” Han said teasingly. She hit his arm good-naturedly and walked a little faster towards the sunlight, at the same time letting down one of her braids from the crown it was arranged in. Han felt his heart skip a beat, and then shoved the feeling aside.  _ She’s about to be engaged.  _ He followed her more closely as she walked into the forest, two braids now dangling on her back.

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, her hands grazing one of the tree trunks. The sun lit up her hair, and he noticed that there were actually tiny strands of blonde and red that he’d never noticed before, that made her hair look much more vibrant than it did in the dim lighting of space and starships.

“Yeah,” he breathed out, suddenly at a loss for words. He cleared his throat and approached her again, remembering what Wedge had told him that morning.

“Wedge and Jenkins are throwing Luke a birthday party tonight,” Han said. Leia froze and looked back at him, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Tonight?”

“What, did you have plans?”

“No, nothing,” she said quickly. “It’s just… are they celebrating tonight, or is it actually Luke’s birthday today?”

“It’s his birthday,” Han confirmed. “Don’t feel bad if you didn’t get him anything, he didn’t want anyone to know.”

“It’s just, well, it’s my birthday today too.” His eyebrows shot up in surprise as well. Leia looked at him sheepishly. 

“Only, don’t tell anyone. It’s Luke’s day, I don’t want to take it away from him.”

“What?” Han rolled his eyes at her small act of heroism. “Leia, that’s ridiculous. He won’t care. But seriously, what are the odds of that?”

“They’re slim,” Leia admitted. “I just don’t like celebrating myself.”

“Why not?” Han leaned against a tree trunk as she wandered through the pine forest, looking back at him now and again.

“I don’t want to sound self-deprecating here, but I don’t like myself.”

“What’s not to like?” Leia looked back in confusion, and Han quickly looked away, feeling his face burn. “I’m just saying, you’re smart, you’re brave. You’re one hell of a Princess, Your Highness.”

“Thanks,” she said, walking back to him. Her eyes in the light were less of a dark brown and more of a chocolate hazel, with flecks of gold and amber. There was a stray strand of hair fallen from one of her braids swooping into her face, so he brushed it behind her ear. In a moment he realized how intimate of a motion this was, but she didn’t seem to mind. He certainly didn’t. His entire skin felt aflame, and his heart was racing out of his chest.

“Happy birthday, Princess.”

“Thank you.” They stood there for a moment, with Leia staring up at him and Han looking down, and he wondered if he should kiss her. He really wanted to. But he decided against it. He didn’t want her to feel any confusion when Derrick popped the question (as much as he didn’t want him to). It felt like a lifetime before he was finally able to tear himself away from her, walking back into the hangar, every muscle of his body screaming to turn back around.

He tried his best to avoid Leia for the rest of the day, but it was difficult when their jobs seemed to inconveniently intertwine for the day. They took their lunch breaks at the same time, and had to attend the same meeting at noon regarding the possibilities for new bases (for which he seemed to have convinced High Command from building bases on more remote planets such as Hoth. Disgusting.) Then, most painfully, he and Derrick were sat next to each other for a top secret meeting regarding the Project for Displaced Alderaanians, and while Leia and Rieekan led the meeting, Derrick seemed particularly chatty.

“I think I’m gonna do it tonight,” Derrick whispered to Han. He looked over sharply, trying not to let his alarm be as apparent as it felt to him.

“Yeah?”

“I think right before Luke’s party would be a good time,” he thought aloud. Han kept his eyes fixed on the clock above Rieekan’s head, painstakingly counting the seconds until he could leave.

“Okay.”

“Maybe outside, since it’s sunny. If it still is, by the time we get out of here,” Derrick joked to him, then sobered when he saw Han’s stony expression. “Hey, I know we got off to a rough start, but you’re a good pilot. No hard feelings, right? It’s just business.” Han turned his head slowly over to face Derrick’s small smile, his hand extended to shake his. It took every ounce of common sense in Han’s body not to body slam him onto the table.

“Just business?” Han felt his eye twitch. “She’s just business to you?”

“Hey, that’s not what I meant.” Derrick pointed an accusatory finger at him, his hushed voice raspy. “I just meant that it looks good on both of us, you know. It was always bound to happen anyways. On Alderaan, I mean. The tabloids will love it-” Han stood up and left before Derrick could finish. He slammed the door shut behind him, not even considering the fact he might not be able to run the next mission due to his absence for the meeting. He didn’t even care anymore. If Leia was stupid enough to marry him, he could fly her all the way across the damn galaxy for all he cared. He instinctively walked all the way to the Falcon, slamming the button for the closing ramp behind him.

_ “Cub?”  _ Chewie’s calm voice anxiously called for him.  _ “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” _

“She’s gonna marry him,” he breathed. He felt like the wind had suddenly been knocked out from him, and he stumbled into the galley, his breaths shallow and weak. Chewbacca was sitting at the table and quickly stood up to help Han sit down.

_ “The little princess? Marrying who?” _

“Derrick.” Han stole Chewie’s coffee cup, quickly realizing it was Corellian whiskey. He exhaled gratefully and took a hearty gulp.

_ “Did you hear her say so?”  _

“No,” Han admitted. “But why wouldn’t she say yes?”

_ “Aberdeen,”  _ Chewbacca growled angrily.  _ “I don’t trust him.” _

“Me neither. There’s something off about the way he talks about her. I just, Chewie, I don’t like it.” Han realized he was stumbling over his words, and even though the whiskey couldn’t possibly help, he took another gulp.

_ “Princess is smart. She will mate with you.”  _ Han looked up, wiping whiskey from his lips.

“That’s not the point, Chewie.”

_ “Isn’t it, though?”  _

“No,” he said, his voice rising. “I don’t care if she gets with me- okay, maybe I want her too, but, well, that’s not the point. She deserves better than him. He’s a no-good, two-timing' scoundrel. I don’t trust a single hair on his head.” He slammed the coffee cup down angrily.

_ “You need more alcohol. Go to the party tonight.” _

“I don’t want to watch Luke’s birthday party turn into an engagement celebration,” he growled. Chewie rubbed his shoulders encouragingly and helped him stand up anyways.

_ “You never know. Besides, it’s still young warrior’s day.”  _ So, Han went to the party. It was low-key at first, with only a dozen or so pilots drinking whiskey on the floor, swapping stories and laughing together. Then more and more people got roped into the bunch, with med center people and ship technicians joining in. The lights eventually were dimmed, the medics brought in morphine and alcohol from Coruscant called “Deathbringer”, and eventually they all pretended not to notice as Wedge and Henna made out in the bathroom. Luke and Han sat together on his bed, watching as the party grew more and more out of control. Luke looked at Han, a small smile on his face.

“No guy I’d rather be with on my birthday,” Luke said, only half-joking.

“Same here, kid. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s Leia’s birthday, too,” Han mentioned. He briefly remembered he’d promised not to say anything, but he shook it off. She’d be so elated by her engagement by now she probably wouldn’t care that all the attention was on her.

“Really? That’s crazy! Why isn’t she here?”

“Oh, I’m here.” Han felt a body plop down next to him, leaning heavily on his side. He looked to his left to see Leia sprawled onto his shoulder, her face in his chest. He glanced at Luke, confused, before looking back down at her again.

“What are you doing here?” He yelled over the noise of the crowd.

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” She asked, her voice slurred by liquor. “I was invited, wasn’t I?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be, you know, planning a wedding?” Han said sarcastically, trying to keep his voice steady.

“What? For who?” Luke asked.

“Someone’s getting married?” Leia fell into Han’s lap, and he propped her back up with his arms. While holding her, he grabbed her left hand and looked at it. Empty. His heart felt immediately lighter. He’d either lost the nerve… or she’d turned him down.

“Nevermind,” he said.

“Han, what were you talking about?” Luke murmured next to him.

“I’ll tell you later,” Han promised.

“I need to make my rounds,” Luke said as a group of girls passed them, giggling as they looked at Luke. Han rolled his eyes. Luke was always led by his emotions, but Han couldn’t blame him. Luke pointed at Leia. “Make sure she gets to her room safe. And do  _ not  _ let her take any morphine.”

“Scouts honor,” Han promised as Luke left.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Leia’s hand trailed up Han’s chest. He looked deep into her eyes, and startlingly, it was an empty shell behind her normally bright and attentive eyes. She was looking at him lustfully, yes, but without any real thought behind what she was saying. The fact she was saying this at all showed how deeply impaired she was. He couldn’t pretend he hadn’t pictured her saying this while lying alone in bed sometimes, and maybe if he’d known she was saying what she really meant… but no. She deserved better than that. Then, as he was staring at her lips, he recognized a fleck of dust on her lower lip. He brushed it slowly, looked at his finger, then at her drink. He knew the golden, shimmery shine of the liquid anywhere. It was a common drug, one he used to smuggle, and one he’d used to help rob a cantina once. Jet. Someone had spiked her drink.

“Leia, who gave you this drink?” He asked, helping stand her up to go to the bathroom. She had to vomit as much of this out as she possibly could, and he didn’t care if it was straight onto Wedge Antilles’ head. If she didn’t get it all out now, she wouldn’t die, but she’d have no control over herself. Judging by the near empty cup and the way she couldn’t take a single step without falling into Han’s arms, she’d already drunken too much.

“Uh, I don’t really know,” she said as she stumbled against him again while walking. They continued to bump into people, who gave them dirty looks, but otherwise paid them no mind. “I just kinda got it.”

“Okay, Princess.” Han knocked on the bathroom door and Henna opened it, looking absolutely pissed until he saw the state of Leia. “Someone spiked her drink with Jet,” he said quickly.

“Oh, shit,” Henna cursed. “Here, give me the drink.” Han passed her the drink, and after a quick inspection, Henna poured it out into the sink and helped support Leia’s other arm. Wedge stared on, his shirt half-off, utterly confused. “Let’s get her to the med center.”

“She doesn’t need to throw up?”

“No, we’re gonna need the evidence. I’ll put her on a drip, but we need to be able to prove she was drugged.” Han nodded in agreement, but they made it only a few steps before the sounds of blaster shots in the hallway brought everyone to a complete standstill. For about half a second, the entire party was frozen, everyone staring intently at the door. Then they all heard another shot and began to panic and scream. Henna and Han exchanged a horrified glance.

“Holy fuck,” Henna cried.

“My thoughts exactly.” Han grabbed Leia’s legs and pulled her into his arms. Her head hit his shoulder, and though her chest still rose and fell and her eyes were half-opened, she was completely dead-weight in his arms. “I’m getting her to the Falcon. Should I wait for you?”

“No, leave as soon as possible.” Henna tucked Leia’s arm into her lap and patted his shoulder quickly. “Good luck.”

Han began to run through the halls for the most direct route to the hangars, but was cut off by Stormtroopers. He immediately turned heel and ran the other direction, but heard blaster shots coming from that hallway too. He looked around for a solution before seeing the door to Leia’s room. He looked down, and she had closed her eyes, her face scrunched with pain. He placed her hand against the sensor and closed the door behind them, setting Leia down on the bed.

“Han, what’s-” 

“Shh,” he said quickly, quieting her. He listened outside, and it sounded like the Stormtroopers had stopped firing for the time being, presumably having moved to a different hallway.

“My head hurts,” she whimpered. “I can’t feel my toes.”

“I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly, looking around for any method of escape that wasn’t the front door. 

“I’m wiggling them. Are they moving?”

“What? I don’t know, Leia,” he said. He’d forgotten how loopy people got on Jet, and he would have found it amusing if it wasn’t so frightening to see her so… comfortable. “Sweetheart, are there any secret exits in here? Loose panel? Anything?”

“I don’t know,” she whined. “Can you either get in bed or stop talking? I think I’m gonna throw up,” she said quickly, rolling over.

“Fine, just don’t do it on me,” he said, continuing to look around. He looked below the bed, and saw nothing, except strangely enough, her holo from Coruscant. In a moment of complete spontaneity, he grabbed the holo and pocketed it. Who knows. Maybe it contained the location of some secret Jedi temple, or something.

“Han, can’t we just leave through the air vent?” He stopped.

“Where?”

“Right there,” she said, pointing her finger at the wall. She made a finger gun and pretended to shoot it, then burst out laughing. He sighed. She was getting to the stage of Jet poisoning where people start losing their minds and think everything is a big joke. Then they pass out. Or their heart stops. 

“We’ll make it work,” he said. He unsheathed his blaster and shot it clean. Leia gasped in shock, then started giggling once again.

“You’re sexy when you shoot your blaster,” she said, her voice seductive and slurred. “Why don’t you shoot your blaster right-”

“Okay, Princess,” he said, cutting her off before she could finish. Of all the Jet poisonings he’d seen, this one at least was a little entertaining. “We’re gonna climb through the vents, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” she said. She tried to sit up, but eventually Han had to help her up by grabbing her around the waist and hoisting her up. She collapsed again into his arms and sighed contentedly. “Let’s just stay here,” she whispered. “It’s nice here. You have nice muscles.”

“It’s nice in the vent, too. Come on, Your Majesty, I don’t have time for this.” He half carried, half walked her to the vent, putting her down on the ground before climbing in himself. “Can you crawl?”

“What’s crawling?”

“Oh my God,” he whispered to himself. He ended up dragging her by her arm as she laughed maniacally through the entire vent, which was probably only a few yards, but felt like miles long. He looked out of each vent while trying to quiet her, stopping only for the moment it took him to gauge they weren’t yet at the hangar. Finally, after what felt like an eon of pulling an increasingly unconscious Leia through the metal vents, they reached the hangar. He shot the vent open and pulled her out. The hangar was complete chaos, with pilots running around, exchanging shots with a slowly approaching line of Stormtroopers. Han picked Leia back up into his arms and ran to the Falcon, where Chewie was waving his arms angrily at him.

_ “Dammit, Cub, what took you so long?” _

“We had to take a shortcut,” he said, out of breath from carrying the princess as well as running to his ship. They shut the ramp door down and Han carried Leia into the cockpit, not even bothering to strap her in as they manned the controls.

_ “I made contact with Home One. We’re meeting there. Lightspeed calculations are already made for when we reach the atmosphere,”  _ Chewie growled as they took off quickly into the night. Han sighed a breath of relief as they blasted off into lightspeed.

“What would I do without you, you big furry fool?”

_ “You’d be dead,”  _ Chewie smiled.  _ “Several times over.” _

“True,” Han conceded before pointing at the still unconscious Leia. “What are we going to do with her?”

_ “What happened?” _

“Somebody spiked her drink with Jet ten minutes before the Empire’s attack.” Han stood up slowly to move Leia into the crew’s quarters so she could sleep it off more comfortably. She seemed to be in a very uncertain state of dreaming, because she twitched and made small noises of discomfort. He tried his best not to wake her as he slowly moved her into the bunk beds. He laid her down and pulled the blankets over her. He’d just noticed that she’d done her hair differently: it was twisted into a long braid at the back that looped around to create a bun. He quickly undid the bun so that she could lay her head down more easily and, without even thinking, pressed a long kiss to her forehead. He felt his heart ache with a desire to be with her. Not intimately. Just to be near her. Eventually he walked back into the cockpit with Chewie, feeling at odds with his emotion.

_ “So who was it?” _

“Hm?” Han was distracted.

_ “Who spiked the drink?” _

“I don’t know,” Han said angrily, his thoughts back to the matter at hand. “I hate to think about it, but some pilot probably wanted to get her drunk enough to take back to their room.”

_ “Who do you think they’re going to pin it on?”  _ Chewie pointed out. Han narrowed his eyebrows with thought.

“Well, I was with Luke the entire time. And Henna and I were taking her to the med center. There would be no reason for me to do all of that,” he said.

_ “You know who’s going to throw all of that out the window. You know who’s going to pin it on you.”  _ And Han’s heart sank as he realized his friend was absolutely correct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The intrigue! The drama! THE PLOT TWISTS!!! Hope you all enjoyed that chapter! You got a double upload today because my show opens tomorrow and I'll feel bad for being too busy to upload for you guys. Hopefully I'll be able to, but in case I can't, I'll leave you with one thought: what's going to happen next?


	7. In Which She Wakes Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia survived the attack on Alcyorn, but there are mysteries that still need to be solved.

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**_LEIA_ **

Her entire body felt like it was suddenly a hundred pounds heavier. She tried to open her eyes, but her vision was fuzzy, like she had donned a pair of tinted glasses and could only see shapes and colors without finite detail. She could feel well enough, and the sheets she was under were smooth and clean, and she could feel the cold press of an IV tube against her arm. She felt somebody grab her hand and squeeze it tight, too tight. The blurry vision of a tall man came into view, and he brushed her hair aside. She sighed and closed her eyes again.

“Han?” She murmured questioningly.

“What? Leia, it’s Derrick. Wake up.” She felt like she’d been shaken awake and her vision cleared at once. She looked up at him, and his hair looked unwashed, and he hadn’t shaved in a few days. He looked utterly exhausted.

“What happened?” Her head was pounding and she closed her eyes again, the bright lights too much for her to bear.

“The Empire found our base on Alcyorn and attacked in the middle of the night, so we had to evacuate. We’re on Home One now, in the med center.” He brushed more hair out of her face and she opened her eyes. His hands were blissfully cool, which informed her she might be feverish. She certainly felt it. “You were at Luke’s birthday party, remember? Somebody spiked your drink.”

“What?” She breathed. “How did that even happen?”

“I know you don’t want to hear it,” Derrick began softly, “but I have this awful suspicious feeling that it was Han.” Derrick had dropped his voice to a whisper at his name.

“Han? Why-” 

“Shh!” Derrick shushed her. “Him and Luke are asleep in here. They haven’t left your room since we got here.”

“How long have we been here?” Leia asked, afraid to hear the answer.

“Two days,” Derrick admitted cautiously. “And it took Han an entire day to get you here, so you’ve been out for three days.” 

“Three days,” Leia echoed. She began to slowly stretch her muscles, and even though her mind should be racing to think of all of the work she’d missed with them moving bases and all of the casualties, not to mention the PDA, but she couldn’t muster up the energy to care. She rubbed circles into the sheets with her finger, trying to center herself again.

“And I’m just saying, Leia, that Han was the last person people saw you with before you got drugged.” Leia could barely focus on his words because her head was beginning to throb harder and harder.

“Derrick, can we dim the lights some?” She said, gritting her teeth to keep from crying in pain. 

“Oh, of course,” he said quickly. She heard shuffling and the lights eventually gave, and she sighed in relief. She would have appreciated painkillers, but she didn’t want to bother anybody or take up resources from people who actually needed them. So she slowly opened her eyes again and took in the scene. Han was on the floor, propped up against a wall and Luke’s head was against his leg. Both were sleeping soundly. She smiled. From here, Han didn’t look like he had the capacity to drug anybody. He looked positively innocent. And no matter how rough his background was, and as much as he insisted he didn’t care about her… she couldn’t bring herself to believe he’d done it.

“Is she awake?” She heard Henna’s whispered voice come from the doorway.

“Yeah, she just woke up,” Derrick responded.

“Then what the hell are you still doing here?” Henna’s voice raised to speaking level, and she smacked Derrick hard on the arm.

“Ow!” 

“Go, go do work! Go rebel against the Empire! And you two!” She said in Han and Luke’s direction. They jolted awake and looked up at her with wide eyes.

“But we were here for Leia!” Luke protested.

“I was here to see if I was still employed,” Han clarified. Leia laughed internally. Some things never change.

“Well get out of here! My patient needs rest,” Henna insisted. With forlorn glances at Leia, all three of the men exited and shut the door behind them. Henna hurried to Leia’s side and felt her forehead. “You’re warm. Have you drank anything yet?”

“No, I just woke up. I’m glad you made it out, Henna,” she said raspily.

“Me too,” she said jokingly. “Do you think you can sit up?”

“I can try,” Leia said grimly. It was extremely painful, but they eventually got her into a sitting position, and Henna propped pillows up behind her.

“Jet poisoning is no joke, and with how much you ingested, I’m surprised you’re awake this early. I hate this damn thing,” Henna said as she tried to fix her IV.

“About that, Henna…” Leia watched her as she continued to fiddle with the tube. “Derrick thinks it was Han. Who spiked my drink, I mean?”

“What?” Henna exclaimed. “It can’t be. He’s the person who saved you.” Leia felt her heart flutter, and she chalked it up to being grateful for Han’s heroic nature.

“Really?”

“I was… well, I was in the bathroom with Wedge Antilles, it’s not important why,” Henna said bashfully, “and he knocked on the door and had you in his arms. Leia, you were out of it. You were completely loopy. He said someone spiked your drink, and I saw that drink, and dear God, whoever did it didn’t know what they were doing.”

“How so?” Henna finally dropped the IV and Leia sighed in relief as she realized she’d been hooked up to a morphine drip.

“The point of Jet is that it disappears,” Henna said. “There was so much in your drink that I could see the gold from a mile away. I just think Han’s a little smarter than that, you know? Besides, why drag you through a vent and onto the Falcon if he didn’t care about you?”

“Through a vent? How much did I miss?”

“It was quite the rescue,” Henna said with a grin. “My point is, Derrick just wants to pin it on Han so he has an excuse to kick him off the station. He’s afraid that Han will scoop you up before he can-” Henna cut off abruptly.

“Before he can what?” Leia asked. “Tell me, Henna!”

“I’ve said too much,” she whispered.

“Tell me, for the love of God!”

“Okay, well, I don’t know everything,” Henna gushed, “but he asked me the other day if you had a favorite gemstone, and I asked why, and he said that he was thinking of going jewelry shopping. And then Han started acting all weird on the trip after you guys got back from the marketplace, and I saw Derrick trying to hide something in the speeder from you- oh, Leia!” She cried. “I think he’s gonna try and propose!”

“He wants me to marry him?” Leia shrieked.

“Shh, keep your voice down! Yes, I think so.” Leia wanted to celebrate with her, but then there was this sickening feeling in her stomach. Something was screaming at her,  _ no, this isn’t good.  _ But she’d spent hours at night in her youth dreaming up their wedding colors, what dress she would wear, and where they would honeymoon. She and Derrick made sense. Derrick was comfortable. “Leia?” Henna interrupted her thoughts. “You don’t look all that excited. Maybe you’re just sick.”

“It’s just, I don’t know,” Leia said, her headache returning, though less intense. “He feels right, he feels comfortable… and I love him, I do.”

“Are you in love with him, or do you just love him?” Henna prompted. “Does he feel like a second home, or is he simply comfortable? Is he the safe option, or is he genuinely right?”

“You seem to have picked your side,” Leia commented wryly. 

“I just don’t think you’re as in love with him as you’d like to believe,” Henna said. “I think you’ve been going on with this little charade now for the past few months because he’s convenient, and nobody’s gonna throw a fit if you guys get married.”

“Nobody cares about my marriage that much,” Leia snorted.

“They would if it was Captain Han Solo,” Henna insisted.

“Wait, what? What does this have to do with Han?”

“Think about it Leia,” Henna said, leaning against her bed. “If you could kiss one person right now, any person at all, who would it be?” Leia was startled by how quickly she pictured Han, his strong hands centered on her waist, his breath hot against hers, his lips ensnaring her in a warm and passionate kiss.

“Well-”

“See! You’re thinking about Han!” She said, clapping her hands together joyfully. “Look, I know that you and Derrick have a really long history, and I respect that. I even think Derrick’s a great guy. He’s a little full of himself, and I actually don’t think he’s all that handsome, but I digress. I think you and Han are great for each other.”

“We fight all the time,” Leia argued.

“All the best couples do.”

“And he’s shown absolutely no signs to me that he wants me!”

“It’s written all over his little puppy dog face! He’s head over heels for you, Leia.” Leia’s headache worsened and she leaned back, and Henna’s face scrunched with worry. “Hey, I’m sorry. I came in here to check on how you’re doing, and I’m doing a real lousy job at that. It doesn’t matter, okay? Pick either for all it matters. You’re who matters right now. Don’t worry, I’m gonna help you feel better, okay?” Leia felt her heart melt in appreciation for her friend.

“You’re a good doctor, Henna,” she murmured.

“I am, aren’t I?”

**HAN**

_ “At least she’s awake,”  _ Chewie offered.

“Barely,” Han said. High Command had done nothing to investigate Leia’s drugging, focusing their attention instead on directing the thousands of pilots, technicians and medics without home bases to new locations, or assigning them new positions on Home One. Han could admit it looked like they were busy, but he was concerned that they weren’t even mildly interested in Leia’s condition. Rieekan had come by once or twice to check up on her, but he suspected this was not an on-duty task and something the old man did out of his dedication to serving the Alderaniaan monarchy. No, Han could only think of one person who might be interested in trying to track down who drugged Leia. And it was the person he would least want to team up with.

_ “Are you sure you want to work with Aberdeen? He is a dangerous man,”  _ he warned.

“Who else is going to help me?” 

_ “I will,”  _ Chewie growled in anger, slamming his hand against the panel they were trying to repair in frustration.  _ “I will kill whoever did this to little princess.” _

“I know you would, bud. But I need someone with connections, and you aren’t exactly the best at talking to people.”

_ “Fine,”  _ Chewie huffed as Han connected the last wire they needed to complete the array.  _ “But I will come along if you’re about to kick ass, yes?” _

“Sure, bud.” Han promised.

_ “If you go to see princess, bring me. I wish to hug her.” _

“I will.” It didn’t take Han long to find Derrick, who was in a mostly empty High Command office with General Dodonna and Rieekan, poring over pages. Upon his arrival, Generals Dodonna and Rieekan looked up, pleasantly surprised to see him. Derrick did not.

“Solo, it’s good to see you,” Dodonna greeted.

“Good morning. General Aberdeen, I have something to discuss with you.” Derrick looked up contemptuously.

“So you’ve finally come to admit it.”

“I’m sorry?”

“That you were the one who poisoned Leia.” There was a collective gasp from the onlookers in the room.

“General Aberdeen, that’s quite the accusation,” Rieekan began, his voice wavering. “Do you have any proof at all of this?”

“Well who else could it be?” Derrick spat. “Nobody else could have done it.”

“Derrick, I want to-”

“It’s General Aberdeen for you,” he shouted. Han raised his eyebrow and forced himself to calm down enough to speak.

“Fine. General, my word clearly means nothing to you, but I did not poison Leia’s drink. In fact, I came here to see if you’d like to help me find out who did.”

“You already have my guess as to who it was. I don’t think I’d be too helpful.” Derrick bent back over his papers. “Good day, Captain Solo.” General Rieekan gave him an apologetic glance, and without another word, he left. He headed for the med center, hoping Leia would remember something helpful. As he reached the door to her temporary room, Henna emerged, looking half-asleep on her feet.

“Oh. Solo,” she said, her voice alarmed as though she’d been caught red-handed doing something bad.

“Hey, sorry. I was gonna ask Leia something really fast. I can leave if she’s tired.”

“No, no!” She said quickly. “Go inside. Page me if you need me, I’m going to go take a nap.” Henna walked quickly away, shooting him a few excited glances as she left. He shook his head in confusion. He was glad Leia had friends, but some of them were plain weird. He pushed the door open and entered, taking in her fragile body. He’d seen her briefly that morning, but somehow in the dimmed light she looked even smaller. Henna had taken the braids out of her hair and left it down. Han realized this was the first time he’d ever seen her hair down. Somehow it felt like an invasion of her privacy. She looked at him uncertainly.

“Han?” She asked.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Oh, good,” she sighed in relief. “Earlier I called Derrick by your name by accident. He really didn’t seem to like it.” 

“Me and him aren’t on the best of terms right now,” Han informed her, walking to the side of her bed. “He thinks I drugged you.”

“He told me,” she said tiredly. “Don’t worry, I don’t think you did.” His heart sighed in relief.

“I just have some questions, but you look tired. I can ask later.”

“No, don’t go,” she said. “I don’t want to be alone right now.” Even in the dim light, he could see her blushing at her weakness.

“It’s okay,” he said quickly, sitting on the side of the bed carefully, trying not to shake her. She tried to lean herself up more, but she grunted in pain and leaned back down. His face wrinkled in concern. After days of watching Leia sleeping like a corpse, he’d hoped she’d be a little better off, but she still looked as worn down and beat up as she did when he was dragging her through the vents.

“How close did we get this time?” She asked quietly.

“To the Empire?” She nodded solemnly. “I don’t want to scare you, Princess, but if it weren’t for some very heroic acts on my part, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I’m sure you were the epitome of heroism,” she said, her voice lacking the usual teasing tone she took on with him. 

“You weren’t too helpful,” he said, “but I’ll excuse it just this once.” She took on a pensive expression for a moment, then looked up at him with a rigid determination.

“Han, can you promise me something?” His stomach turned in fear.

“Depends.”

“If the Empire ever finds us again, and they take me… I need you to promise to kill me.” Her voice didn’t waver, and her eyes were dead serious. 

“What? Leia, you know I’m not going to promise that.”

“No,” she said forcefully, her voice cracking and dry. “Derrick wouldn’t bring himself to do it if I asked, and I would never ask it of Luke. But you will. I just can’t do it again.” She buried her face in her hands, and when she pulled back out of them, he saw tears streaming down her face. “I see him. In my nightmares. Sometimes when I wake up, I can still see the edge of his cape in the shadows of my room. It terrifies me, Han. And I don’t know if he questions me again if I’ll be as strong the second time. So I need you to just kill me if it comes to that.”

“Leia, you know I won’t be able to. I’m not strong like that.” Han liked to pretend he didn’t have a single weakness, but that just wasn’t true. Everybody had a weakness. And Leia was his. He didn’t think he’d be able to pull the trigger, even if she begged him to.

“You’ll need to find the strength, then. From somewhere. Please, Han. I won’t be able to keep going until I know somebody will do this for me. You know what the alternative would be.” Damn. That was true. If he didn’t kill her, she would face certain death, after long torturous hours at the hands of some of the most vile souls to ever travel the galaxy. So, forcing himself to spit the words out, he agreed.

“Okay, Princess. I’ll do it. Don’t let it come to that, though.”

“I don’t plan on it,” she said, relaxing a little bit. He hadn’t thought that she might be afraid of Darth Vader. Well, that was a stupid oversight, but he just assumed everybody was, like people knew the Force existed and just pretended it didn’t. But he hadn’t considered he might be a night terror of hers, a thought that keeps her up at night, the lurking image that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. He wished he could fix it for her.

“I still need to ask my questions here, Princess.”

“Sorry,” she said. She pushed herself up a little bit and grunted in exertion, so quickly he looped his arm around her waist and helped her up. As he set her down, he realized he was inches from her face, pinning her to the bed. Although her face was a little more sunken than usual, and her hair was flat and lifeless, her eyes were wide. He felt his entire body stop. “What was the question?” She whispered.

“I forgot,” he said.

“I have all the time in the world. We can wait until you remember.” And although he eventually remembered, it was so nice to just sit next to her, close and tender, that he never got around to asking her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one may seem a bit aimless, but I had to tie together two VERY big plot points and while these next few chapters may feel a bit strange, trust me when I say you'll want to stick around for the ending of this work. It actually isn't TOO far off! After this, there will be more works, as we will only be 1/2 way between ANH and ESB by the time this work ends. I don't know when I plan to end Life Goes On, but there will either be a work taking place after ROTJ or a simple epilogue. Who knows?!


	8. In Which She Avoids Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia is finding it increasingly hard to avoid Derrick's proposal. At some point, she's going to have to face the impending future threatening to swallow her whole.

**LEIA**

She sighed as Derrick ran his hands through her hair. Somehow, he’d convinced a runner to bring him a bottle of red wine, and she and Derrick had made themselves a picnic in her room. They spread out her blanket on the floor, dimmed the lights and they ate their flavorless dinner in relative peace. Then, she’d put her head in his lap and he ran his fingers through her hair. Just like on Alderaan, when they were children.

“I think I found a new lead,” Derrick whispered. 

“For the project?” She asked, peeking one eye open.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s Mon Cala. A lot of the ships on their way back to Alderaan at the time ended up getting displaced there for a bit, and I think some refugees got stuck there.”  
“Wow, that’s great. Thank you,” Leia said. They returned to silence for a moment. “Do you think it’s ever going to be the same again?”

“Like it was on Alderaan?” Derrick asked.

“Yeah.”

“Honestly?”

“Please.”

“No,” he said. “But I’m not sad about it. Some things are worth it, you know?” She felt her stomach turn uncomfortably. She hadn’t been able to forget about what Henna had told her, that she was pretty sure Derrick was going to propose at some point in the near future. She hadn’t meant to be leading him on like this for so long, but he just felt so warm and comfortable. Like a piece of Alderaan that walked around with her every day.

“Maybe.”

“Leia, I need to ask you something important,” he said suddenly. Her eyes shot wide open, and she realized that she was on a romantic picnic with him. She felt his hand reach for his pocket and she stood up quickly, smoothing out her dress.

“Oh, dammit, Derrick!” She exclaimed. “I just remembered, I promised I would meet Luke at his X-Wing.”

“Oh, what for?” Derrick asked, disappointed.

“Umm,” she hesitated. She really was a terrible liar. “It’s a tradition. Every Wednesday night we hang out.”

“But last Wednesday, you and I worked late on the PDA.” Leia’s blood ran hot at being caught in a lie, so she spoke fast, opening the door as she talked.

“All the more reason to get back on schedule.” She stepped out and looked back. “Thank you for dinner, Derrick.” She closed the door behind her and cursed. She really did feel bad, but something about the whole situation was throwing her off. She just wished she wouldn’t lose her best friend in the process. Leia felt a little lost since she’d essentially ejected herself from her own room for the foreseeable hour, so she wandered towards Luke’s room, hoping he’d be there so she wouldn’t be completely lying to Derrick. She knocked on his door, but Wedge answered.

“Oh, Your Highness. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, sorry to bother you,” she said apologetically. “Is Luke here?”

“No, he’s on the Falcon. Actually, Henna, Jenkins, Borage and I were about to join him. You should come,” he invited.

“What are you all doing on Han’s ship?” She asked. Henna appeared at the doorway, uncharacteristically out of her uniform and in a casual dress like Leia. 

“We’re going to re-celebrate Luke’s birthday, since his last party got interrupted. Oh! It was your birthday too, right? Now you have to come!” Henna smoothed Leia’s dress out in admiration. “Ooh, nice dress. Where are you coming from?”

“I had a picnic with Derrick,” she said sheepishly. Wedge smiled knowingly, but Henna’s eyes flickered to her finger before sighing in relief.

“Oh, well if you’re free now, we should go. Han brought whiskey,” she added, putting emphasis on Han’s name as though it were a scandalizing piece of gossip.

“Am I invited?” Leia said, unsure as she followed them out of the room.

“Of course you’re invited! Now come on! I don’t want them to drink all the booze before we get there,” Wedge added, and they picked up the pace, coming upon the Falcon in only a few minutes. The ramp was down, and though she couldn’t see any lights shining down from the ship as usual, she could hear raucous laughter coming from the ship. They climbed on board and followed the sound of drunken chuckling into the galley, where the lights were dim and Han, Luke and Chewie sat on the floor. Luke was grasping the whiskey bottle like it was the end of the world.

“You need to get laid,” Han said.

“Yeah. I need to lie. With women,” Luke agreed loudly. “Leia! It’s so good to see you!” 

“Stop drinking,” Leia advised.

“He’s fine,” Han waved an arm at her, beckoning her to join them. “Welcome to the ultra secret birthday celebration, Princess.”

“What are you, 12?”

“No,” Luke said loudly. “We’re grown adults. Doing adult things.”

“Happy birthday, Luke,” she said, sitting down next to him. 

“You too,” he said, grinning wider than usual. She was glad that the rebellion hadn’t quelled his spirits like she’d feared it would, and that a part of him still remained the goofy boy she’d met who still had sand in his hair from Tatooine. Wedge sat down next to her, followed by Borage and Jenkins, and Henna finally settled next to Han, creating an uneven and sloppy circle. They began passing the bottle around, and Leia took a swig, cringing from the sharp burn.

“Is it too strong for you?” Han didn’t ask the question judgmentally, but it still rubbed her the wrong way.

“No,” she said defensively. “I’ve just never drunk before.” Everyone looked at her incredulously. 

“What about my first birthday party?” Luke asked. 

“You were pretty drunk,” Wedge added.

“Well, I don’t remember anything,” Leia reminded them, passing Wedge the bottle. “So, to my memory, this is the first time I’ve drunk.”

“Well, welcome to the party,” Jenkins said goodnaturedly.

“Leia,” Henna said suddenly. “Do you mind switching with me? I want to sit with Wedge.” Leia looked sharply at her, a warning look in her eyes. Henna certainly hadn’t forgotten the conversation they’d shared in the hospital wing about her conflicted feelings towards Han, but if she thought she could force some kind of emotional confession out of her with the help of some booze, she had another thing coming.

“Fine,” she said. They stood up and switched, and as they passed each other, Henna shot her an excited look. Conversation began to drum up around them, overlapping over each other.

“So, what are you doing dressed so nice on a Wednesday night?” Han asked as she settled next to him, fanning the skirt out over her knees. She felt a blush rise on her face, and she considered lying, then thought better of it. 

“I was having a picnic with Derrick.” 

“Oh,” he said, and she wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw his eyes look quickly at her hand. How many people knew about Derrick’s impending proposal?

“I left a little earlier than I anticipated,” she said, hoping that would give him the hint that nothing happened.

“So, you and Derrick,” Han said. Jenkins passed Leia the bottle, and she passed it straight to Han, who surprisingly also passed it along to Chewie. “What’s going on there?”

“Well, I think he might be interested in me,” Leia said honestly. She really, really wanted to admit that she wanted Han to scoop her up in his arms, kick everyone else off of the ship and ravish her in the cockpit. But that seemed a bit forward. She felt her heart begin to throb just from thinking about it.

“Anyone with eyes can see it, sweetheart. But do you like him?” He asked, leaning against the side of the booth-style seating. 

“I don’t think so,” she said. The two of them locked eyes, and she saw a small hopeful look in Han’s gaze that made her heart soar.  _ Is it possible that he wants me, too? That this no-good scoundrel would ever want me?  _ “What is it you wanted to ask me the other day?”

“Hm?”

“The other day, you said you had a question. But you never asked me,” Leia said.

“Oh!” He straightened up a bit, knocked out of some kind of stupor he was in. “I wanted to ask if you knew where you got your drink from.” She tried to remember, but the last thing she’d remembered from that day was walking in the woods with Han.

“I really don’t remember. Sorry, Han.”

“That’s okay,” he said, shrugging. “I’ll find out who did it, some way or another.”

“Han, I really appreciate you trying to fix this for me, but I’m kinda ready to just move on,” she uttered. 

“I want to know,” he said, exasperated. “I don’t like that we can’t trust the people standing next to us. And I don’t like that there’s someone out there trying to get you. You know, I won’t always be there to save you. I am going to leave at some point.”

“Wait, what?” She exclaimed. She’d completely forgotten he wasn’t an enlisted soldier and his stay with the Alliance was a shaky and unreliable one. “Han, you’re still planning on leaving?”

“Well, yeah,” he said as though it were obvious.

“You’re safer here than you would be if you were to go,” she argued.

“And just leave a debt over my head for the rest of my life? I don’t need that. Besides, there’s nothing for me to stay here for.” Her heart plummeted. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Their heads whipped around to see Derrick standing in the hallway, staring at them incredulously. “Leia, do you remember what happened last time you got drunk with Han?”

“Say that to my face, Aberdeen. Say it one more time,” Han spit, standing up heavily. Leia stood up with him quickly, trying to defuse the tension. 

“Derrick, you know I don’t think that’s true.”

“Well I sure as hell do!” He yelled. “Leia, look at him. He’s a smuggler. He’s not the kind of guy you should be hanging around with. He’s dirty, and rough, and he’s dangerous. Now come on,” he said, holding out his hand. 

“Get the hell off of my ship,” Han shouted.

“That’s the idea,” Derrick said back angrily. 

“No,” Leia said forcefully. “Derrick, you’re wrong. Han isn’t perfect, but he’s not dangerous. You have no right to accuse him of that.”

“Are you kidding me, Leia? Come on, that’s enough.” He grabbed her wrist, and Leia panicked, resisting with all of her might. Every alarm in her body was set off, and horrifyingly she realized it was the same sensation she had when she saw Darth Vader enter her room on the Death Star. Then suddenly she was thinking of the Empire, and the recent attack, and she felt dizzy and weak and small. “Leia, come on!”

“Get your fucking hands off of her,” Han said, his hands breaking them away. She felt Henna grab at her shoulders and pull her back, and she fell into her friend’s arms, too afraid to be the strong person she wished she could be.

“Watch your mouth,” Derrick said, staring up at Han, who towered over him as though Derrick were a petulant child.

“I would, if I were in your office. But we’re not. This is my ship. And on my ship, I’m the captain here, Aberdeen.” One strong hand pinned Derrick to the wall, and a loud grunt came out of his body as he hit the wall with a thud. “And what I say goes. And I say, you keep your fucking hands off of her. Get the hell off of my ship before I make Chewbacca drag your ass off.” Chewebacca roared in agreement, and slowly Leia straightened up, about to order Han to release Derrick. But Han released him and Derrick pulled away swiftly, his eyes swimming with fear and hatred.

“Mark my words, Solo. You’ll regret this.” And after his haunting words, Derrick straightened up and adjusted his collar as if nothing happened. “Good night, everybody.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter (once again) was anticlimactic or felt short, but I promise the next few chapters MORE than make up for it. I lost the keys to my car so I'm in a terrible mood, but I was able to put in enough hours today that I was able to post! There will only be a few more chapters to Out of The Smoke, and there will be a brief pause between the upload of the next work because I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. I have the basic outline (and trust me, it is absolutely WILD), but I want to make sure I have a definitive plot before posting. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> EDIT: I found my keys! I'm in great spirits now and will be buying a key tracker promptly.


	9. In Which She Goes to Mon Cala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia is off on a new mission to Mon Cala. Han isn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Just an average chapter. Hope it isn't too boring :/ enjoy!

**HAN**

He pounded the side of the Falcon angrily, cursing quietly under his breath. He’d spent the past few days doing final repairs, restocking and preparing himself mentally for Tatooine. He understood the risk involved, but he was absolutely terrified that he would walk into Jabba’s palace and never walk out of it again. He began looking over his shoulder on simple supply runs, jumping at the slightest noise. And somehow he was missing a vital part of his ship. He couldn’t take off without it. 

“What the hell do you mean, you don’t know what to do about it?”

“What do you want me to do?” Leia asked, exasperated. 

“Fix it!”

“I can’t fix it. I can’t spend Alliance funds to replace something you lost.” Han enraged at this.

“I lost- Your Worship, somebody stole this converter from my ship. If you won’t replace it, I’ll steal it from one of your ships.”

“Just buy a new one,” Leia suggested.

“I can’t. I don’t have those kinds of credits.”

“Sure you do,” Leia insisted. “You’re loaded.”

“Yes, but I need all of that money to pay off Jabba,” Han cried. “Don’t you get it? Just find some money to sweep under the rug so I can get the hell out of here.” Leia’s eyes narrowed with fury.

“I’m so sorry you can’t leave right this instant. But what’s one more week? We’re going to Mon Cala tomorrow. You should come.”

“The longer I wait, the more dangerous this gets. For everyone.” They’d heard about some poor sap on Coruscant who’d been shot dead: some bounty hunter mistook him for Han. He looked at the pictures, and maybe they wore similar clothes, but the guy looked nothing like him. The bounty was getting so high that every hunter in the galaxy was becoming desperate to be the first person to catch him. He wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Okay, fine,” Leia said angrily. “I’ll try to find another converter for you, but it might take a few days.” Her face was tired, and it gave him pause. It had been an entire month since they’d moved to Home One, but he was still afraid that the attack from the Empire was having adverse affects on her. “Or,” she began cheekily, “you could come on the mission and use the money to pay for the new converter.”

“Damn, why do you want me to go on this mission so badly?” Leia sighed.

“Because right now it’s just me and Derrick going alone, and I like having you there.” He paused. He’d never heard her be so up-front with her feelings like that, and he was genuinely considering going on the trip. It couldn’t be too long, and he really could use the extra money- no. Just go to Tatooine.

“Sorry, Princess. I really wish I could. But I have to-”

“Yeah, I know,” she said tiredly. “I’ll really try to get that power converter, okay? I’ll drop off some paperwork later, sign it and leave it in Dodonna’s office.”

“Thanks, Princess.”

“Actually, if you get it in the next few days, I might still be on Mon Cala. So, this is it.” He realized she was right, and he suddenly felt overwhelmed that this was the last time he was guaranteed to be with all of his friends. Leia stared back at him with a solemn expression, and he recognized it as the one she wore when they were in meetings discussing how many Alderaanians had been purged during the genocide, the one she wore during his medal ceremony, and the one she wore everytime they had to discuss him leaving. It was a blank, emotionless expression. It was forced, and fake, of that he was sure. And she wore it now.

“Yes. It is.” He was terrified that while he was at the hands of the evil Jabba the Hutt, dying a slow and painful death, he wouldn’t be able to remember what she looked like. But as he stared at every feature of hers: the curve of her hips, the point of her nose, and the shape of her lips, he realized he could never forget what she looked like. She was unforgettable. Leia tended to have that effect on people. “Is there anything you need to get off the Falcon?”

“No,” she said quickly, already backing away. “If there’s anything left on there, you can keep it.” Then she turned and walked away quickly. He watched her retreating, her pace brisk, and wished with every fiber of his being that he could stay. But he couldn’t. He had to leave. So he set his jaw rigid and walked back onto the Falcon, looking for Chewie to tell him that the converter was going to be replaced. He found him in one of the compartments in the floor where they used to smuggle items, but now they kept spare parts there.

_ “No converter.”  _

“Don’t bother. The Princess is gonna fix us up with a new one,” Han informed him. Chewie looked up, grinning.

_ “She’s very helpful.” _

“When she wants to be. About time she starts paying us back, all the times we’ve saved her.”

_ “Yes, it’s very kind of little princess to do this for us.”  _ Chewbacca hoisted himself out of the compartment and closed it carefully behind him.  _ “Now, let’s get some sleep.” _

The next morning, he awoke to a polite tapping on the ramp of the Falcon. Confused, he lowered it to see Threepio staring back at him. Damn. He’d nearly forgotten that the exhaustingly attentive droid even existed. He briefly remembered that Leia and Luke argued about who owned which droid, because technically they were Leia’s to begin with, but Luke bought them fair and square. Finally, they came to an agreement, but while Luke managed to keep Artoo, Leia got the bad luck of getting stuck with Threepio. At least Artoo was helpful sometimes.

“Excuse me, sir, but I have a package from Princess Leia.”

“Is it the paperwork?” Han walked down the ramp and snatched the folder from Threepio, opening it and flipping through the pages. 

“Yes, sir! Princess Leia wanted to express her condolences for not giving it to you in person, but she’s already left for Mon Cala with General Aberdeen.” Han blinked. Huh. She was already gone.

“Thanks. Get off my ship.”

“But I’m not even on it-”

“Your golden little foot is on the ramp. Toes off. Now.” Threepio stepped back, muttering obscenities below his breath as Han closed the ramp behind him. The paperwork was easy enough, and he filled it out quickly, walking to General Dodonna’s office to drop it off. When he arrived, General Dodonna turned him around. 

“Do you mind taking it to Derrick’s office? Don’t worry, he’s off ship,” Dodonna said with a knowing smirk, “but he needs to see the paperwork when he gets back so we can get this to you for free. Thanks for all your help over the months, Solo. We appreciate it.”

“And if you ever want to come back, we’ll be here,” Rieekan added. His eyes looked forlorn and Han realized just how much he would be losing when he left. There was an entire group of people depending on him now, not just Chewie. It was Rieekan and Dodonna and Luke... and Leia. 

Derrick’s office was silent enough to hear a pin drop, which was strange even for it being empty. All ships have a detectable humming sound, a sort of living, breathing core that shows that the ship is alive. In his mind, the ships had emotions and thoughts and feelings. But his office lacked this sense of life. His offices were stark white, the chairs were white, his desk was white and there was a bright white light coming from the lamp on his desk. His office was artificial and disturbing. How could anyone actually get work done like this?

Han walked to his desk and placed it onto the smooth surface. He was so close to turning around and missing it. He would have, if it weren’t for how unnaturally white the room was. How could he miss the flecks of gold dust on the pearly surface? Rapidly, he ran to the other side of the desk, following the faint traces of yellow on the desk, opening a drawer to see the bottle of Jet hidden inside. The thing about Jet was that it was finicky, easy to leave traces of behind it. And someone who knew so little about it that they would pour enough Jet in a drink to leave it shimmering and gold would certainly know not to clean up behind themselves. Someone who would have never needed to use it before. Someone like Derrick. And most conspicuously was that his missing converter was sitting right next to the bottle.  _ He took it. He didn’t want me to come on the mission. So he could get her alone. With him. _

Sprinting, he ran full force for Luke’s room. He didn’t know how to convince the naive young pilot to join him, but he knew he needed to head for Mon Cala immediately. It was a five hour flight in hyperspeed to the planet, and who knows how much he could have put her through in that time? How many bottles of Jet did he have? As he thought, he rounded a corner and almost face planted against Luke, who looked equally out of breath and frazzled.

“Luke, I need you to-”

“I know,” Luke said quickly. “Leia’s in trouble.”

“How did you know?”

“The Force,” Luke said vaguely, tapping his head. “I can feel it. Something’s wrong. This mission, it isn’t going to end well.”

“It’s not the mission, bud. It’s Derrick.” Han filled him in on how Derrick had stolen his converter and his discovery of the Jet bottle, and Luke nodded.

“Well, come on! Let’s get Rieekan,” Luke said. Han grabbed his arm and pulled him close.

“Listen, kid. What we’re doing? Treasonous. We’re rebelling against the rebellion here. We’d be attacking a general. We can’t get Rieekan involved, or anyone for that matter. Besides, with the amount of time it takes them to move people around, I’d be surprised it Leia was still alive by the time they came up with a rescue mission.” He tugged him towards the Falcon, and luckily Luke followed him without question. “We’re leaving now.”

“Now?”

“Now,” he said, his stomach filling with dread as they ran to the Falcon. “I don’t have the Force, kid, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

  
  


**LEIA**

“I haven’t seen the aquatic ballet since I was fourteen,” Leia said. Mon Cala was known for incredible performances done completely underwater, which was appropriate seeing as the majority of the planet was vast oceans.

“I went with you! Remember, we sat in the seats that sometimes got wet. And you got so upset that the water got on your new dress that you stormed off to the ship and made me go with you so you could change.”

“It was cold,” Leia whined. “And in my defense, you were bored too.”

“It was slow,” he admitted. It was a comfortable peace in the cockpit, as Derrick flew the ship and Leia co-piloted with minimal work, as Derrick liked to be mostly in control of the ship. Most things with Derrick felt familiar, comforting, like a warm blanket at the end of the day. He was the only thing in her world that still felt right after a hurricane of wrong. “We’re approaching Mon Cala.”

“Oh, good.” She pressed the button for the landing gear to come out and they flew to a landing spot next to the ocean, where a furious storm was causing the waves to crash over the concrete. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ugh, we’re gonna get wet. You know how I hate that.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” She looked over, and Derrick wore an odd expression. His jaw was fixed and there was such a finality to his tone that it led her to question him.

“Why not?”

“Leia, I was going to propose to you.” Derrick pulled the ring box out of his pocket. Her breath hitched. “I was going to, but then I realized you were so damn in love with Han Solo that you’d never accept. There were easier ways to get what I wanted. So, here. You can wear it if you want. I don’t need it anymore.” He tossed her the ring box. She stared at him in shock as he calmly landed the ship.

“Derrick, I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I-”

“You were one of the best parts of my life.” There were tears pooling in his eyes, and he looked over at her angrily. “Do you get that? You were the only person who really believed we could make a change. But you’re wrong, Leia. We can’t.” He stood up and exited the cockpit. She felt fury course through her. How dare he speak to her like that? She followed him, her footsteps pounding on the ship. He was lowering the ramp, and already a miserable damp mist was making her hair frizzy.

“Derrick, what the hell are you talking about?” She yelled. She reached the ramp and her heart stopped. Rows upon rows of Stormtroopers awaited her, uniform and silent, their blasters at attention. She pulled her own out and felt a cold hard barrel press against her temple. Daring to shift her eyes to the side, she saw Derrick with a stone cold expression on his face, pressing the blaster to her head.

“I’m sorry, Leia. It’s just business.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe. Yeah. I've been planning this since Ruins and Rubble. It'll all start to make more sense as the next few chapters unfold. I couldn't leave this unposted tonight! Let me know what you think. Your comments mean so much to me I show my friends so they can cry with me about how sweet you guys are.


	10. In Which He Saves Her (Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han Solo has a tendency for heroics, and Leia has a tendency to need it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow the chapters are never as long on here as they are in my Google doc, but this one was ten pages long and took me five hours to write, so enjoy :)

**HAN**

“What do you think happened?” Luke asked grimly. The cockpit, up until then, had been in a terse silence. Han’s knuckles were white from gripping the controls so hard, and Chewie hadn’t spoken since Han told him what he discovered in Derrick’s office. 

“Anything could have happened, Luke,” Han responded, trying to keep his cool. He didn’t want to think about it too hard, because every time he pictured Leia trapped on a ship with a man so infatuated with her that he would poison her to get her to sleep with him, he wanted to throw up.

“Han, go faster,” Luke said, his voice edged with fear.

“We’re going lightspeed, Luke, we can’t go any faster.” Chewie mumbled in agreement with Han’s reasonable explanation, and suddenly Luke gasped.

“She’s in trouble.” Han whipped around and Luke was doubled over in shock, breathing heavily as though someone had punched the air out of him.

“Luke, what’s going on?”

“I… I don’t know. It’s not clear. It’s fuzzy. It smells like salt, and mist.”

“She’s reached Mon Cala.” Mon Cala was a grim planet, plagued with constant storms that made the vast oceans tumultuous and dangerous. It was no wonder he could smell salt. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Luke repeated, his voice edged with hysteria. “I don’t know, but Han, you need to go faster. There’s not much time.”

“We’re almost there, kid,” Han said, and he felt Luke’s panic begin to rub off on him. What was happening to her? Luke’s eyes were wide with fear, so whatever it was, it can’t have been good.

_“Cub, you need to calm down.”_

“I am calm, Chewie,” he snapped.

 _“Case in point. Little princess needs for you to be strong.”_ Chewie began to punch in calculations for their exit from hyperspace. _“Be brave.”_

“I know,” he said miserably. Han could barely focus. He felt like his entire body was at the same time buzzing with adrenaline and being weighed down with dread. He had this horrible, pit of his stomach feeling that he couldn’t shake. They exited hyperspace, and rain hit the cockpit windows strong, the mist fogging up the windows. “I can’t see a damn thing!”

“To the right,” Luke instructed. Han complied. Normally, he wouldn’t listen to a passenger, but when the passenger had an uncanny ability to use the Force, he listened.

“Where should I land?” He asked as they approached a long landing strip slowly. It was painted strangely, with white and grey dots. “What kind of landing strip is this?”

“Holy hell,” Luke whispered. Han squinted his eyes and realized it was rows of Stormtroopers, all facing one ship. He realized with a flash of panic that it was Derrick’s ship.

“They were captured.”

“They weren’t captured,” Luke said bitterly. “It was him the whole time.”

“Derrick?”

“He’s been with the Empire this entire time,” Luke said, his eyes growing wide. “Feeding them information, leading her all this way just to throw her to the dogs.”

 _“Let’s land over there,”_ Chewie growled, motioning for a spot far away from the strip Leia was stranded on.

“How would we ever reach her in time?” Han demanded, but he knew it was the only way. Begrudgingly, he guided the Falcon to the smaller landing pad on the other side of a giant, towering complex made of gray concrete and glass. On the top was a lightning rod that would absorb a strike every once and awhile, making the three of them jump with surprise. They landed, and Han quickly stood up, checking to make sure he had his blaster.

“Wait, don’t just run off,” Luke pleaded as Han walked out of the cockpit and into the galley. “What’s the plan?”

“Plan? When have we ever had a plan?” He slammed his fist into the button to release the ramp and walked down as it was lowering, instantly being soaked by the heavy rain and mist. The deck of the landing pad was slick with the water, and every few moments water from the ocean would splash onto the pad with a deafening roar, soaking it all over again.

“What are we going to do when we get to her, Han?” Luke demanded to know, grabbing his shoulder. “She’s surrounded by Stormtroopers. We wouldn’t even get within a five foot radius of her without getting blasted. What good are we gonna do her dead?”

 _“Young warrior is right, Cub,”_ Chewie added grimly. His fur was plastered to his body. _“We must think logically.”_

“Han, let’s wait for them to take her somewhere. We’ll see where they’re going, and see if we can get her then.” Han slowly nodded in agreement. That made sense. Every fiber of his being was screaming for him to swim all the way to the landing pad, pull out his blaster, shoot every Stormtrooper in sight and strangle Derrick Aberdeen with his bare hands, but he knew this wasn’t logical. Would sure as hell be fun, though. The rain was cold and made the thin cotton shirt he was wearing stick to his chest, and he shivered from the frigid conditions.

“We need to get over there to see, at least,” Han insisted.

“Okay. Let’s try to get in the building,” Luke said. They carefully walked to the door from the landing pad but it was, of course, locked. Han cursed and looked at the landing pad. It was about 150 feet away, and in between the two strips of concrete was foaming ocean water with spiky rocks holding the landing pads in the air. The waves crashed against the rocks, creating a mist that continued to splash the three pilots.

_“What now?”_

“We have to get over there, somehow. Han, any ideas? Should we even try swimming?”

“No,” Han said quickly. “We’d get thrown against a rock and crack our heads open, or drown trying to get to the other side. No, we need to get there quick, and inconspicuously…” he trailed off, eyeing a thin outcropping in between the building and the ocean, no wider than his shoe, and he grinned. “So we walk.”

“Walk? Walk where?” Han ignored Luke as he approached the narrow walkway. It was a shining slick surface. One wrong move and they were plummeting into the icy waters below. He looked over at the landing pad across the way and he could finally see Leia’s outline. It was faint, and he could barely see her at all through the misty fog, but she was a dark blue outline against a sea of white clad Stormtroopers. Her dress was plastered to her tiny frame, and her braids had fallen out, her long hair sticking to her body. Han flared in anger and carefully gripped the side of the building, shimmying out onto the ledge.

“Han, are you crazy?” Luke exclaimed. “You’ll fall straight down!”

“Don’t jinx it, kid,” he yelled over the roar of the ocean below. “I’m rescuing her, dammit. Are you coming or not?”

“I’m gonna regret this,” Luke moaned, joining him on the ledge. Chewie silently followed suit and together they inched slowly, so slowly, across the railing. Han breathed heavily as he tried not to imagine suddenly slipping on the wet surface and falling into the water below, the waves smashing him against a rock or pulling him deep into its bitter depths. Instead, he tried to picture the way Leia smelled. It was a warm, cosy smell. There was no way to describe it other than floral and fresh, like a beautiful spring day. What was ironic was that she was anything but a spring day. She was closed off and disagreeable and she gave everyone the cold shoulder, but he realized now that it was because everyone left her, everyone died or blew up or betrayed her for the Empire. He was so lost in thought he barely even noticed Luke fall.

Luke cried out in fear and Han watched as, in slow motion, he slipped on the wet rock and fell backwards. On instinct, he let go of the building with one hand and grabbed Luke’s collar, and when Luke’s weight finally hit he nearly fell off himself. But he managed to muster enough strength to haul Luke back onto the ledge. His eyes were wide with terror and he gripped the building again, looking at Han with utter shock. “Thanks,” he said breathlessly.

“Yeah,” he nodded, shivering from the cold water continuing to be splashed onto their backs. They continued on their way, shimmying against the building until they mercifully made it to the landing pad. They crouched next to the building, where a power box gave them enough coverage not to be seen by the Stormtroopers. Han couldn’t hear due to the cacophonous ocean beneath them, but he could see basically what was going on. A Stormtrooper was putting Leia in handcuffs as two more aimed their blasters at her threateningly. She was craning her head to argue with Derrick, who was yelling back at her. His face was red with anger and exertion. He finally was able to pick up on a bit of the conversation.

“...move forward!” The Stormtroopers all turned in unison and began to march towards the building. The Stormtrooper who had handcuffed Leia shoved her forward and she whipped around to scream at him as well, but Derrick came up behind her and began to push her, rolling his eyes all the time. She continued to shout at him.

“I’m not going! I’m not going!”

“You don’t have a choice, love. Do I need to pick you up and fucking carry you, or will you walk like an adult?” She tore away from him and moved close to his face.

“You can try,” she threatened. “But I will scream and kick and scratch every step of the way. I will destroy you. I promise, you don’t want to deal with that.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” he said tiredly. “I want to go inside and change clothes. You guys deal with this,” he said, motioning to the Stormtroopers. They moved to pick Leia up as a unit, and Han was surprised that a person could even flail as much as she did. She managed to escape them three times before one of them eventually took the butt of their gun and slammed it against her arm. She cried out in pain and hit the ground hard, and they took advantage of their moment of weakness to pick her up. Two Stormtroopers grabbed her legs, and one grabbed her upper body. She continued to squirm, but their grasp was too firm, and they held her in place. Han felt his pulse quicken and he reached slowly for his blaster. Chewie growled angrily in his ear.

_“Wait, Cub.”_

“Finally,” Derrick said. “Not too hard, is it?” He rubbed Leia’s cheek with his thumb affectionately, a condescending smile on his face. “Men, forward. Into the building. We’ve got this under control. Tell Lord Vader we’ll enter in just a moment.” The vast array of Stormtroopers marched inside, and Derrick was left behind with Leia and the three Stormtroopers. Derrick crouched a bit to get down to Leia’s level. Han strained to hear what he said, but couldn’t quite make it out. It was too quiet. Whatever it was, it horrified Leia, because she had to look away from him. And because she looked away, she made direct eye contact with Han. To her credit, she didn’t speak. She didn’t even move a muscle. The only sign she saw him was that her eyes widened, and slowly, her mouth formed the word. _Please._

Fleetingly, he remembered what he’d promised Leia when she was recovering from Jet poisoning a month ago. She’d begged him to agree that if she was ever about to be captured by the Empire, if he had the chance that he would shoot her dead to spare her the pain of Imperial torture again. Her eyes demanded him to pull out his blaster, so he did. He slowly raised it, ignoring the pleads of his companions to stop. He aimed it straight at Leia, and while his finger was hovering over the trigger, he suddenly felt a rush of emotion so strong it almost knocked him off his feet. It was as strong as the waves crashing in the ocean below him. He was suddenly remembering how Leia smelled again, and it was less of a spring day, and more of a summer picnic. He realized. _I’m in love with Princess Leia Organa. Head over heels. And there’s nothing I can do about it._

He pulled the trigger.

  
  


**LEIA**

Derrick cried in pain, gripping his leg tightly. The blaster shot had hit him directly in the knee, crippling him and he hit the ground with a loud thud. He squirmed in pain, gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of him. The Stormtroopers released her and she hit the ground painfully as they tried to help Derrick stand back up. She furiously looked at Han. He’d missed! The man had a spot-on aim, never missed a shot, and he’d somehow managed to shoot the wrong person when it actually mattered. He, Luke and Chewie raised their own blasters now, shooting at the Stormtroopers in turn. She ducked to avoid their fire until they had all fallen to the ground. Then, she stood up, the rain still pelting her and occasionally blinding her, and she ran at full speed to her friends, her hands still bound behind her back.

“Leia, watch out-” Before Luke could finish, somebody barreled into the side of her. She managed to lock eyes with Han for one single moment before she and Derrick went over the side of the landing pad and hit the water. Her breath escaped her body as the shock of the frigid water took over her. The water moved with such ferocity and anger that she felt like she was a helpless passenger in a crashing ship, and slowly her long petticoats and dress began to weigh her down. She put all of her energy into thrashing up, and her head breached the surface of the water. She gasped for air and in an instant was dragged back down. Leia opened her eyes, painful and stinging in the salty ocean, and saw Derrick tugging her back down. She kicked him straight in the face and swam back to the surface.

She breathed unevenly, struggling to keep her head above water as she looked above. She was slowly being dragged by the ocean current further into its depths, and hysteria began to consume her as she realized no matter how hard she kicked and how strongly she tried to swim, the dress was too heavy and current too strong, and she felt herself slowly begin to sink. The last thing she saw before her head went completely underwater was a large splash in front of her, and she closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the ocean's whims. For a moment, it was almost peaceful, as she felt the rhythm of the waves, and she realized the ocean was not angry at all. It was an elaborate symphony that one could enjoy if only they took a few moments to listen. She knew in a few seconds she would be cursing the music as she drowned in it’s depths, but for a moment, it was beautiful.

Then, strong arms wrapped around hers and pulled her to the surface. She gasped on reflex and opened her eyes. Han, his hair slick against his head, turned her on her back and swam towards the other landing pad. She breathed heavily, allowing herself to lean exhaustively on him. Tiredly she tried to think of a reason why he was even here, but left it alone. She was just glad he was. They reached the spiky rocks and Leia grasped one, still gasping with cold. She looked over at him, and he was staring at her with such relief in his eyes that it brought tears to hers.

“You came for me,” she whispered. 

“It’s what I do,” he said simply. She felt a tear stream down her face, warm and salty, mixing with the ocean spray misting over the two of them.

“How did you even get here?”

“I’ll tell you that once you’re on the Falcon,” he said decisively. He heaved himself onto the rock, extending an arm to help Leia as well. “Come on.”

“Wait,” she said, looking out into the ocean. She saw the outline of Derrick, still being tossed by the current. His body looked feeble and small, and in a moment she remembered Derrick before Aldeeraan was destroyed. The one who teased her for her hair being too long, and refused to wear a pink tie because pink wasn’t manly, and who secretly helped her make flower crowns in the garden. The others couldn’t see it, because all they saw was a heinous traitor, but she saw the boy she’d dreamed of marrying one day. Derrick was not a bad person. He simply wasn’t. And not bad people didn’t deserve to die alone and forgotten, like her parents did. She looked at Han, trying not to cry more than she already was. “We can’t leave him.”

“Luke and Chewie? Wasn’t planning on it. They’re walking over on the ledge now.”

“No, Derrick,” she said, a sob racking her body. “He’s all I have left of Alderaan. Please, Han.”

“Are you fucking serious?” He hissed. “He just betrayed you to the Empire.”

“Please, Han.” He stared at her for a few moments, then growled angrily.

“Fine!” He dived back into the water and swam out to Derrick. The storm was beginning to calm, and the sun broke through the clouds, illuminating the light rain and the glittering waters. The waves still splashed onto Leia’s legs, but the symphony was quieter, the crescendos less painful and sudden. Derrick wasn’t moving, and Han looped his arms around him, pulling him up to the rocks. A figure landed behind Leia and she screamed before realizing it was Luke climbing down to help her.

“Here, I have my lightsaber. I can break your handcuffs,” he said, holding it out. Her stomach squirmed. She would love nothing more than to throw the lightsaber full-force into the waters, but she knew they didn’t have many options, and that Luke would be careful.

“Okay.”

“Be very, very still.” She turned around and heard the hum of the lightsaber igniting, then the warmth of the blade near her hands as it melted the handcuffs. She heard the sound of it being dimmed and she broke her hands apart. Her shoulders were stiff from the salty waters freezing her limbs behind her body, and she stretched them gratefully, her eyes still trained on Han’s slowly approaching figure. 

“Thank you,” she said to Luke. “For coming.”

“We haven’t saved you yet,” he joked. “We still have to get on the Falcon. And I’m sure they’ve realized we aren’t authorized to be here.” Her stomach twisted with worry. She’d hoped this would be the end of their troubles, but of course, it never ended for them four. Han finally reached the rocks and she and Luke helped him heave Derrick up. Feebly, he coughed up water, slowly opening his eyes. 

“Leia?” Derrick groaned. She slapped him across the face. Hard. His head whipped to the side and he cried in pain, and her hand had left a distinct red mark against his cheek.

“Damn,” Han commented.

“Felt good,” she said in explanation. Derrick faced back to the sky, moaning in pain.

“My leg hurts.” 

“Good,” she, Luke and Han chorused back. She heard Chewie roar, and Han’s head whipped up in surprise.

“They’re what? Holy hells, guys, we gotta go.” He picked Derrick up by the ribs and Derrick cried out again in pain. Luke quickly moved next to Leia to help him.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Those Stormtroopers are getting curious. Chewie’s trying to explain that we’re a transport ship for Vader but, well, they don’t speak Wookie. He’s gonna hold ‘em off until we get up there.” They began to climb, and if it was tough for Leia, it was doubly hard for the boys, who also had to carry an increasingly weak Derrick up with them. The jagged rocks cut at her hands, but she plowed on, nearly stepping on her long dress.

“What happens when we get up there?” Luke huffed.

“Same old, same old,” Han said, grunting in exertion. “Run and gun our way out.”

“Why does it have to be this difficult.” Leia whined.

“With you, Princess, it’s always difficult.” They were about halfway up when they heard blaster shots begin to ring out above them. She and Han exchanged an alarmed glance and they climbed faster, trying to get up to the surface to help Chewie. She reached the top before Han and Luke did, and lifted her skirt over her thighs to reach her blaster, the fabric difficult to move from being weighed down with water. She drew it and began to shoot at the Stormtroopers rapidly approaching. 

“There’s at least a dozen!” She yelled to Han. She realized he was staring at her exposed leg as they hoisted Derrick onto another ledge. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Could he put aside the objectifying women thing for ten seconds to complete a mission? “Han! Pay attention!”

“What? Oh, yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “Just run to the Falcon, Princess. We’ve got it.” She rolled her eyes.

“When are you going to learn, Captain? I’m not going anywhere.” She ducked for cover and continued to shoot at the approaching white soldiers, knocking down one at a time. Admittedly, her shots weren’t totally precise, and she was only shooting at the soldiers on the outskirts to make sure she didn’t hit Chewie, who was doing the majority of the heroic shooting. Han and Luke grunted as they lifted Derrick onto the landing pad. Luke let go of Derrick and drew his lightsaber, deflecting a blaster shot with it. He looked over at her and jerked his head towards the Falcon.

“Go, Leia!”

“I’m not leaving you guys!”

“Here, then help me carry him,” Han demanded. She ran to the two of them and grabbed Derrick’s arm, and together they dragged him to the Falcon. The ramp was already lowered, and they carried him only to the hallway of the ship, then ran back down to help the others. She’d never seen Luke fight with a lightsaber, and had honestly never even seen him practice, but he must have been secretly training. He was in touch with the Force, sensing blaster shots that he could never have seen coming, mowing down Stormtroopers with the confidence of a Jedi twice his age. In one horrifying moment, a cloud covered the sun, and in the lighting his coat looked long and black, and in the glow of the lightsaber she could have mistook him for Darth Vader as he struck down another Empire soldier. Then the sun came back out and returned the Luke she knew and loved. 

“Come on, kid! Let’s get out of here!” Han called. Chewie warbled along with him, and Luke dimmed his saber, and together the four of them ran on the ship. Leia closed the ramp behind them and carefully stepped over Derrick, who was breathing heavily on the floor. She almost ran from him, but as an afterthought took his blaster from his hip. She looked at the glistening body, wishing with every part of her that they were back on her planet, in her room, talking about their hopes for the future. When did his turn to the dark side even happen? She leaned her head against Derrick’s chest, weeping, wishing that things could be like they were before she joined the rebellion, before she became a senator, before she began to believe she could make a difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOWWW!!! We made it! There is one more chapter to this work and then we are moving on to the next piece! Again, haven't decided what it will be called yet. If you haven't caught on, the names so far have been based of off a song in Godspell called Beautiful City (Hunter Parrish, look it up, but only the 2012 revival version) so I don't know if I'll continue to stick with that theme or begin to branch out to different songs. Anyways, leave a comment letting me know what you think?


	11. In Which He Brings Her Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're making a tradition of undressing Leia after traumatic experiences. Han can't say it's a bad habit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHORT CHAPTER! But there's one more, a LONG ONE after this, and then an epilogue. So enjoy!

**HAN**

He watched her silently for a moment. She was hunched over, wrapping her arms around her chest, shivering from cold. Luke had draped a blanket over her before he’d gone to take his shower, and she wrapped it tightly around herself. She sat in a foldable chair, staring at Derrick silently. They’d strapped him tightly to the med bunk, so much so that she saw the straps digging into his skin. He was squinting his eyes in pain and had long given up trying to resist the straps, and he opened his eyes and looked over at Leia, not apologetically, but angrily. “Lord Vader will find out about this. This ship is going down at any moment. He’ll come back for me.”

“You fool,” Leia said, rolling her eyes. “Vader couldn’t care less about you. He’s not looking for you.” Derrick went to speak again, but was cut off by Han approaching. He’d been waiting for a moment alone with Derrick so he could… beat him up? Yell at him? He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do, but he was going to do something. He just needed to take care of Leia first.

“We’re about three hours away, Princess. I can watch him for a bit if you want to take a shower and change.” 

“Han, if I leave you alone with him, you’re going to do something, aren’t you?” Han gasped in mock indignation, holding a hand to his heart like she’d wounded him with her words.

“Princess, I’m a man of my word. I told you he’d get back to the Alliance alive.”

“Alive isn’t uninjured,” Leia said softly. “I appreciate it, Han, but I can wait until Luke is ready to take a watch. I don’t want to leave you tempted to beat him to the ground.”

“How noble,” Derrick said mockingly. “Leia, give it up with this pretentious ‘saving the people’ princess act. It’s exhausting.”

“You know,” Han began menacingly, “I have smuggling compartments I can lock you inside of instead. Either keep your mouth shut or it’s going to get a lot more uncomfortable than a few straps over your chest.” Derrick glowered at him.

“Whatever happened to leaving, Solo?”

“Whatever happened to keeping your mouth shut?”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Leia sighed. “I’m really tired. Derrick, it’s over, okay? Nobody is chasing us, and you’re a prisoner of war now. So can you just shut up and let us get through this trip?” Derrick opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “I am the only person on this ship who is stopping Chewbacca from ripping your arms out of their sockets. Do you want me to tell him I reconsidered?” Derrick glared back at her in silence. “That’s what I thought. Han, you can calm down.” He realized his face was turning red and he let go of the breath he’d been holding. Luke walked in, a towel around his neck, and he’d borrowed a pair of Han’s pants and one of his shirts. His hair was still damp from the ‘fresher, and his expression was unusually sober, and contrasted his usual cheery facade.

“I can take watch now,” he announced. Leia stood up slowly, stretching her shoulders back and taking off the blanket, folding it in her arms.

“No funny business,” she warned Luke.

“Don’t worry, Leia. I’m not Han. I can handle this.” They smiled at each other, and Han flitted with annoyance.

“Why do you all think I’m incapable of watching him?”

“I can see it in your eyes, Han,” Leia said with a smirk, leaning close to him as she slowly walked over. “They’re gleaming, you look so mischievous.”

“Alright, Your Majesty. Go take a shower,” he said, walking with her. The cockpit was on the way to the ‘fresher, so they walked together slowly for a moment for Leia’s sake. 

“Hey, Han,” she said.

“Yeah?” She whispered something to him, blushing. He strained to hear it. “What?”

“I… back of m… ess.”

“What?”

“I need you to come undo the zipper on the back of my dress,” she said in a hushed, hurried voice.

“Oh,” he said, puzzled. “Yeah, sure.” He passed the cockpit and followed her into the crew’s quarters, and she looked back at him.

“Do you have anything I can borrow?” She asked. 

“Sure.” He fetched a shirt and pants for her and then she turned around, exposing her back to him. He noticed in the dim light how the tips of her scars peeked out from the neckline of the dress, which was a deep blue and billowed out at the bottom. Han guessed the dress must have been beautiful, but it was ruined now from salt and mud. He slowly trailed his hand up her back to reach the zipper, and he felt her body tense under his touch. He unzipped it carefully, torn between averting his eyes like he should, or savoring the sight of her porcelain skin next to his fingers. The zipper ended mid-back, and he let go, feeling a rush of warmth through him. Leia turned to him, holding the sides of her dress to keep it from falling down.

“I’ve just this instant realized this is the second time you’ve helped me with my dress after saving me from the Empire.” Han was so distracted by the beautiful curve of her shoulder he barely heard her.

“What? Oh, yeah. I guess it is.” He eyed the bruise on the side of Leia’s arm as she removed the dress from her upper body. “That Stormtrooper got you good in that arm, huh?”

“It’s the least of my worries,” she admitted, cringing as she bent over to step out of the dress. “I’m so sore.” After removing the dress she was left in a tank top and a long, flowing underskirt, and it looked so simple. She looked so simple. It was hard to remember she was Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan when she was standing in front of him in simple underclothes, staring up at him from under her lashes. She was balling up the dress when she paused and laughed suddenly.

“What’s funny?”

“The ring.” She pulled a box out from the pocket of the dress. “He gave it to me when we were on his ship, but I don’t know what to do with it now.”

“He proposed?” Han asked incredulously.

“No, he said he didn’t need to bother anymore. Which I guess is another thing we need to ask him about. But anyways, what do we do with it?”

“Throw it into space,” Han suggested. “Burn it. Pawn it.” Leia laughed and winced at the pain from moving too much. Han ran to her side.

“Do you want anything? For the pain, I mean?”

“No. I just need a nap.” She yawned, stretching up. He looked away to avoid looking at her chest, which was rather exposed in the shirt. “I’m so tired.”  
“Are you okay?”

“I think I’ll live,” she said wryly. He knew she wanted to take a shower, but she sat down on the bed instead, leaving room for him to sit beside her. He quickly took his place next to her, and the bed creaked under their shared weight.

“I meant about Derrick.”

“I just can’t believe I never saw it,” Leia sighed. “You did, though. You had him all figured out from the start. I should have listened to you.” She buried her face in her hands, wiping away the stress of the past hour. “I just miss him. I miss my best friend.”

“I’m sorry.” He hated Derrick. He did, he really did. But he understood what he meant to her. He was all she had of her childhood and of her former life, and it would be stupid of him to expect her to move on quickly. He was very important to her, and if he was important to Leia, he would make an effort to understand her reasoning for going back for him.

“I know you wanted to leave him there,” she added. “In the ocean, on Mon Cala. It was tempting. So thank you for… not doing that.”

“Anything for you, Princess.” He meant it.

“And thank you for saving me.” She leaned into him, her chest pressing against his arm as she neared his face. “How did you know, anyways?”

“I found Jet in his office.” He explained about the missing converter as well, and how he put two and two together and realized Derrick must have sabotaged his ship so he couldn’t come to save Leia. “And Luke had some weird Force daydream, so he was on board. Of course, Chewie was all ready to go throw people around, so he didn’t take much convincing. But I thought he was just going to, I don’t know, take advantage of you. I never expected this.”

“Nobody expected this,” Leia murmured. “I feel like I still don’t know the whole story. It’s just so confusing. When did he even turn to the Empire? We’d joined the Alliance around the same time.”

“We’ll question him, back at Home One,” Han assured her. She looked up cheekily.

“We? That’s the first time I’ve heard you call the Alliance ‘we’, Captain.” Han sighed and rolled his eyes. He’d been thinking about it for awhile. Nothing bad had happened so far with Jabba. And it was any day now that somebody would take him out and his debt would be resolved without him ever lifting a finger. He could avoid a few bounty hunters, this much he knew.

“I think it's ‘we’ for now, Princess. For now, at least.” Her eyes widened with realization, and then she broke out in a grin.

“Really? You’re sure?”

“For as long as I can, yeah,” Slowly, his hand touched hers, and they intertwined fingers. Her face was so beautiful when she smiled, and it felt good knowing he was the reason why she was smiling.

“That’s not exactly a promise, but I’ll take it.” Her face neared his again, and their lips were close to touching. But he didn’t want their first kiss to be when she was upset about another guy. He wanted it to be when she was completely ready to be with him, and to only be with him. He wanted Princess Leia Organa, and he wanted her to be his and his alone. So he moved his head and kissed her on the cheek, stabilizing her head with a hand on the side of her neck. He heard her sigh under his touch, and he pulled away, afraid if he lingered any longer he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kissing her.

“We can discuss it later,” Han said shakily. “You need to focus on resting.”

“Well, don’t worry, Captain. You don’t take up any space in my mind.” She tapped her head teasingly. “It’s empty up here.”

“I knew that.” She pushed him jokingly and he smiled. “You know what I mean though. Whatever is happening with me isn’t as important as you being okay.”

“Okay,” she whispered. They stared in each other’s eyes for a moment and it was terrifying, because even though they hadn’t said it out loud, they both now knew. Because him staying changed everything.  _ I like you. I want to be with you. I want to kiss you. Hell, I want to do a lot of things with you.  _ It was a secret he’d never meant to share with anyone, because of lots of reasons. He was older than her, she was too busy for him, and they wouldn’t make a good couple. But sitting with her, holding her hand, felt so right. So right that he almost impulsively kissed her, before reminding himself her emotions weren’t entirely her own right now. Leia was still coming off of a hysterical high from the Empire’s capture, and it wouldn’t be fair of him to manipulate her while she was weak. So he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and stood up.

“I’m going to go check on Chewie,” he said, walking away.

“Wait, Han,” she called. He turned and was stunned again by how stunning she was.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Princess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEHE we're so close to the end! I won't be posting the last chapter+epilogue until I've written a little bit ahead on Part Three, but I already have Out of the Smoke completely written and an entire free day tomorrow, so I might be posting Part Three as early as tomorrow afternoon!


	12. In Which She Deals With Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia knows what has to come next. She just wish it didn't have to happen like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of you wanted this scene. Hehe.

**LEIA** **  
**  


The shower on the Falcon felt magical sometimes. It had the ability to wipe away her fears and stress with it’s warm embrace, and while she knew she should be mindful about water conservation (Han certainly fussed with her about it enough), she was tempted to just stay under the water for a few minutes after she’d finished washing just to let the water drown away her day. But the Falcon wasn’t so powerful that it could wipe away the memories, so she quickly toweled off and changed into the clothes Han had gotten for her. She’d had enough water for a lifetime, anyways.

Landing back on Home One was bizarre to say the least. First, they had to explain why Han, Chewie and Luke had gone MIA. Then they had to explain why Leia was wearing Han’s clothes and why she’d needed to change in the first place. After that came the briefest explanation they could give about why Derrick was strapped to the med bunk and spitting obscenities to anyone who dared come near him. Mon Mothma and General Dodonna were pissed that one of their own could have betrayed them and assured Leia that this would be dealt with. General Rieekan just looked stunned.

Derrick was released from the straps slowly, like he was a crazed animal everyone needed to be afraid of, and put into handcuffs. Luke and Wedge marched him into an empty crew room and locked in, with Borage posted as a temporary guard to make sure he didn’t try to pull anything. Leia quickly walked to her room to find something to change into so she wasn’t attending the emergency meeting that was called in Han’s clothes. She considered wearing white, but thought better of it. She was suddenly feeling off the color. It reminded her of Alderaan, which reminded her of Derrick, which reminded her of getting thrown around in the ocean and that reminded her of the ever present threat of Darth Vader. She was picking out another blue dress when there was a quiet knock at her door. Leia laid the dress on her bed to walk and answered it and opened to see Henna staring guiltily at her.

“Hey, Leia,” she said hesitantly.

“I guess you heard,” she sighed.

“Leia, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see this coming.” Leia knew she was going to get tired of hearing that. 

“It’s not your fault,” Leia said earnestly, opening the door to invite her in.

“But it is,” Henna moaned, walking in and sitting on her bed. “I should have seen this coming. I should have done more-”

“Henna, you were the one encouraging me to spend more time with Han,” Leia reminded her, sitting down on the bed next to her. “This is nobody’s fault but Derrick’s.”

“Are you okay?”

“No,” Leia replied. “But I’m getting through it. I’ll do this thing, then the next.”

“That’s reasonable,” Henna agreed. They sat in silence for a moment, then Leia felt the overwhelming urge to tell Henna about Han, about how he was going to try to stay with the Alliance and how she was pretty sure she was into him. But Henna stood up and smoothed out her uniform offering a hand to Leia.

“Come on. I’ll help you with your hair.”

It was peaceful, sitting with Henna, her fingers running through Leia's damp hair. They weren't perfect, tight Alderaan braids, but they were looser, like the ones worn on Henna's home planet of Naboo. She was afraid that losing Derrick meant losing friendship in it's entirety, but she knew she was wrong. Like when Alderaan was destroyed, she rearranged her world and found places to find solace. She still had Henna, and Luke, and Wedge and Chewie. And Han. She still had Han.

Luke and Wedge arrived a half-hour later to walk with Henna and Leia to the meeting. Wedge offered an arm to Henna and they walked side-by-side, occasionally looking up at each other with small smirks that meant nothing to her but looked like it meant everything to them. She wondered what it would be like to share that with somebody. Inside jokes, secrets and clandestine moments, and to be able to outwardly express their affection without dying of embarrassment. What would it be like to have a healthy romantic relationship?

“You’ve been wearing blue a lot,” Luke commented while they walked. She suspected he was trying to talk about anything except for the upcoming meeting.

“Yeah,” she said, smoothing it out. “I’ve been feeling this weird draw to it. I don’t know. I like it.”

“Blue suits you.” She remembered Han saying the same thing to her on Naboo, when she’d worn it for the first time since her childhood. She blushed. Was that the reason she’d been wearing blue so often? Was she unconsciously dressing up for him? Leia’s head was dizzying. Han was so open and honest and yet so closed off. She shook the thoughts away. There were much more pressing matters to deal with than Han Solo.

The meeting consisted of Mothma, Dodonna, Rieekan and herself along with Han, Luke, Chewie, Wedge, Henna and a few other high ranking officials. Leia hugged Luke and Henna goodbye and walked to the front table, where Mon and Dodonna greeted her somberly.

“How are you doing, Your Highness?” Dodonna asked, his hands clasped tightly.

“Well enough,” she said, trying to smile. “Don’t worry about me, General. We have much more important matters to tend to.”

“We’re glad to hear you’re doing alright,” Mon Mothma said. She rounded the table to sit on the other side of General Rieekan, who was staring at the table with a blank expression. She nudged him softly.

“General?”

“Huh?” He jolted as if he’d been asleep.

“Anything wrong?”

“No, it’s just, well…” Rieekan trailed off before lowering his voice. “I was just thinking about you two playing in the courtyard when you were younger. So young and innocent.” Leia sighed. She’d forgotten Rieekan had also known Derrick before Alderaan exploded and must have been as shocked as she was witnessing his sudden change of character.

“Some people are bad, General,” she began, holding his hand beneath the table. The old man’s hands were leathery and worn, but still warm and reassuring. “But some people are good people who go down bad paths.”

“I wish there’s something we could have done,” he mumbled.

“Nothing to be done now. Except deal with it,” Leia said decisively. He nodded and watched as General Dodonna called the meeting to order. They started by having Leia recite everything that happened from takeoff on Derrick’s ship from landing on the Falcon. It was difficult, since she had to retrace her conversation with Derrick during the five hour flight to see if there was any hints he dropped about their doomed destination other than right at the end, where he revealed his proposal had all been a ploy.

“So, he suggested his romantic relationship with you was all for his duty to the Empire?” Mon Mothma asked for clarification. Leia found it hard to open up so much about what happened but she bit her lip and got through it.

“Yes,” she confirmed. She went on to discuss how when they landed there were rows of Stormtroopers, and she was brought into custody. Then came Han and Luke, and she revealed how Han had shot Derrick and Luke and Chewie had shot her guards, and as she was talking she realized Han hadn’t been aiming for her at all. She’d assumed he just missed, but he was definitely aiming at Derrick on purpose. He must have lied when he’d said he’d follow through with his promise. She was glad he hadn’t. 

Then she had to painstakingly explain everything that happened afterwards, from Derrick pushing her into the ocean in a last-ditch attempt to kill her, Han saving her and Leia convincing him to save Derrick as well. Then how Luke helped them up the rocky slope and their final battle with the Stormtroopers before blasting off into space. The panel of generals looked back at her in shock, and the others in the room who weren’t there were equally stunned. She stood uncomfortably for a few moments before General Dodonna cleared his throat to speak.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I think we can all agree that we would benefit from speaking to Aberdeen directly.” She felt her stomach lurch. Leia was too tired to do this right now. Maybe if she’d gotten a proper meal and had a good night’s sleep she’d be ready to take this on, but all she really wanted to do was curl up in her bed and hide. But she couldn’t. Because she was a freaking princess.

“There are many questions still unanswered,” Mothma agreed.

“Only if the Princess is willing, of course,” General Rieekan opposed them. They stared at her expectantly, and she turned to look at Han and Luke, unsure. Thankfully, neither of them looked completely averse to the idea, nor did they look particularly excited. Han fixed her with a gaze, and she seemed to understand what it meant.  _ Do what you want.  _ What she wanted was to get this over with as soon as possible. So, she sighed and nodded her head.

“I think it would be a good idea.”

Leia hadn’t realized how big Home One was. She didn’t even know they had an interrogation room. On the Death Star, interrogation was like a fancy breakfast, because it was brought to you right in bed. But on Home One, it was different. There was a long mirror in the room, one chair with padding and restraints, and nothing else. Derrick was already tied to the chair when she arrived, and she discovered that the mirror was two ways when she went into the room behind the cell. From the room, they could see everything happening in the cell, but Derrick couldn’t see them. The chair was facing the mirror, and Derrick was staring at the mirror questioningly, and she suspected he knew it was a two-way mirror, because he grinned and winked. Leia felt a shiver go down her spine and she walked to stand beside Rieekan.

“What’s the plan?” She asked in a whisper.

“We have a few strategies,” Rieekan said in a voice barely discernible over the buzz of conversation behind them. Most of the onlookers were watching from far away, in the back of the room. Only Leia, General Dodonna and Rieekan were near the window. “We’re starting with Mon Mothma. She’s gentle but assertive, and she’s used to asking people questions that get under their skin.” Leia would have laughed if she weren’t watching Derrick resisting the straps angrily. The door to the cell swung open and Derrick stopped, watching as Mon circled him for a second before standing still.

“Aberdeen.”

“Mon.”

“What a surprise,” she said drily. “I thought you would have had more integrity than to resort to kidnapping Princess Leia.”

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Derrick sighed.

“What did Darth Vader want Her Highness for?” Leia looked down at her datapad. They’d jotted down a few questions they wanted to ask Derrick, like how long he’d been working with the Empire, how much information he’d leaked, and if there was any reason for Vader’s continued interest in Leia. Originally, he’d kidnapped her due to concerns over the stolen blueprints that ended up being the downfall of the Death Star, which admittedly she’d been guilty of. But other than insurrection against the Empire, she hadn’t committed any particularly egregious crimes since.

“Did you notice you have hair on your upper lip?” Derrick nodded his head at her face. “Right there.”

“Is it something to do with a ransom bargain, or was he planning on using her as a wealth of information?” Derrick groaned out of boredom.

“Is it going to be like this all day, or can I go back to sleep now?”

“I really suggest you answer my questions now,” Mon suggested, a dangerous tone creeping into her voice. “Your next guest isn’t as forgiving as I am.” Leia looked questioningly at Rieekan.

“Who’s up next?” She whispered. He shook his head, confused.

“I thought it was General Dodonna, but he looks pretty comfortable to me.” They looked together at Dodonna, who was eating fruit and watching the interrogation with mild interest.

“I’m not saying anything,” Derrick said, his voice firm.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Mon’s voice was grim. “Han, you can come in.” Leia’s stomach filled with dread as the door opened again and Han entered. To his credit, his expression was somber, although when he locked eyes with Derrick, he got a smug gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, no," Leia whispered.

“You and me are gonna have a chat,” Han said as ways of introduction as Mon exited the room. She called one last thing over her shoulder as she left.

“Han? Try to leave him in one piece. He might be useful as a barter with the Empire.” Leia felt tears pool in her eyes. She knew Derrick deserved it. Really, she should be the last person sympathizing with him, after everything he’d done to her. But the fearful, angry look in his eyes was so familiar and she felt like she was right back on the Death Star, looking at Darth Vader, biting her lip to keep from pleading with him to stop.

“So, Derrick,” Han began, circling him slowly like a bird stalks their prey from above. “You know why I wanted to come in here and do this. It’s because I want to kick the living shit out of you. But I can’t. Because Leia doesn’t want me to.” She sighed in relief. At least he remembered what she’d asked of him. “But you wanna know a secret?” Han leaned close to Derrick. “I’m not very patient. So you have one chance to tell me the answer to the questions I ask you. If you don’t answer, I’ll give you a little motivation.” Derrick laughed.

“You’re not patient?”

“You’re already trying me.”

“You’ve waited four months to fuck Leia, and you’re not a patient man?” The room gasped in shock as Derrick’s head whipped back at an awkward angle and blood splattered the floor from the force of Han’s punch. Luke had ran to Leia’s side after Derrick spoke, and put a hand on her back reassuringly. Han flicked blood off of his knuckles and straightened his vest.

“Alright. Look at me, Derrick. Look at me, damn you!” He yelled, grabbing the collar of Derrick’s shirt. His eyes were hazy and unfocused. Han had hit him hard. A little too hard. Leia caught herself biting her fingernails and stopped. “Why do they want her?”

“I… I don’t know,” Derrick moaned.

“Fucking answer me!” Han said, drawing back his arm for another punch. Derrick flinched and spoke quickly.

“I promise, I don’t know,” he said. “Vader wouldn’t tell me. I have no idea.” Leia nodded. This was reasonable. It was entirely possible Vader suspected him to be a double agent and refused to tell him anything of actual importance, so this made sense. Han also seemed to accept this and lowered his hand. He let go of Derrick’s collar. 

“So, what does the Empire know?” This interrogation went on for another half-hour, and Derrick ended up spilling a lot of information. Dodonna had to begin plans for mass evacuation immediately when Derrick told Han they knew the location of every single planetary base, and that Derrick also gave them periodic updates on where Home One was located, in case they wanted to avoid or attack the massive space station.

“So, back to Leia,” Han said. “Why did you poison her with Jet back on Alcyorn?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, smuggler?” Han rubbed his knuckles suggestively and Derrick complied. “When the Empire attacked Bantrax, that whole raid was designed to capture Leia. It was a small encampment, and if I got her alone on the ship, it was an easy capture. Only it wasn’t because you were there and she ran off to you. So, I thought if I got her incapacitated and the Empire struck again, it would work.  Only it didn’t.” Derrick spit out a mouthful of blood and spit. “Because you had to be a hero and save her. So I connected the dots and you were the common link, Solo. You were everywhere. Pretend all you want you aren’t into her, but guys don’t just hang around women like that, waiting for them to run into trouble.”

“She tends to get into trouble a lot,” Han said defensively. Luke and Leia exhanged a look of mild humor. It wasn't like she went looking for trouble. Usually it found her. And often.

“In any case, I thought if I kept you from taking off, you wouldn’t be able to meddle in her business again on Mon Cala. But you did.” Leia was stunned. The attack on Bantrax and Alcyorn was all for her? Weren’t there more important things they could be searching for?

“So, why?” Han repeated.

“Again, I don’t know,” Derrick said tiredly. “If I had to guess, it’s because Vader wants to make an example out of her. Kill Alderaan off for good.”

“Which would include you,” Han pointed out.

“Guess so.” Derrick shrugged. “I was doomed from the start, Solo. I joined the Empire a little before Leia joined the Alliance, and of course like a petulant child, she told me everything. She was adorable. Oh, you would have loved her, Han. You’re into those kinds of girls, right? The easy ones? Yeah. She was easy.”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Han warned him. Leia looked over at Luke fearfully. Derrick’s words had long begun to go in one ear and out the other in terms of insults about herself, but she still cared about him and didn’t want Han to injure him any further.

“She wanted to change the world so bad. She wanted me to be a part of it.”

“And you never thought that she’s a human being?” Han’s voice was terse and his words were clipped. “You don’t think she deserved a little more from you?”

“You might not believe this, Captain, but I genuinely care about her.” Leia rolled her eyes. “She was my best friend. And I loved her, I did. She’s sexy and easy to talk to. I just loved being on the winning side a little bit more.”

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Watch the mouth, hmm?” Derrick replied teasingly.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Han repeated. “You had a really good future with her. You threw it all away, for what? A higher rank with the Empire? Some credits? God, you’re a world-class fool. I can’t stand the sight of you.”

“Damn, she did a number on you.” Han fell silent and stared at him intently for a moment. Derrick’s face was completely calm, a peaceful aura emanating from him. He had the energy of a man who was so accepting of his doomed fate that he no longer cared what happened between now and death. “You know that there’s other girls, right? And they all have tits, Han. All of them! It’s crazy.”

“There’s no other girl like her,” Han said. Leia felt her heart beat faster, and Rieekan looked over at her, his face suddenly hopeful. “She’s smart, and assertive, and I promise you, I’ve seen an entire galaxy of girls and there is no other woman like Leia Organa. So, you’re a fucking idiot. You had a chance with her, and you just… ruined it.” There was silence as the room of officials, all staring at Leia, took this in. Derrick nodded for a few moments before speaking.

“She has a hell of an ass, that’s for sure.” 

There was a loud smack as Han’s fist hit Derrick’s face again. Then, he slammed his other fist into Derrick’s stomach, causing Derrick to let out a pathetic wheezing sound. Han continued to pummel him, his face turning red. Leia’s pulse quickened. She looked over, and Dodonna and Mothma were smiling contentedly, like this was exactly what they’d intended to happen. She craned her neck and nobody else wore an expression that betrayed they thought this was wrong. Only Luke and Rieekan were also grimacing uncomfortably. Her feet acting before her mind could catch up with her, racing out of the room and towards the door to the cell. She opened it and ran to Han, holding back his elbow. His arm almost hit her face and he stopped, his face dripping with sweat. He looked at her with confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“What are you doing?” She countered. “You promised, Han. You promised you wouldn’t hurt him.”

“I didn’t agree to anything,” he roared. “You heard what he said. Are you saying I’m in the wrong?”

“You don’t get it,” she hissed. “This is what the Empire does. They capture people and strap them to chairs and torture them for information and then they kill them, and that’s not us, Han! We’re trying to change the world and make it better, not make a slightly different version of an existing government. I thought you would understand.” Leia’s hand was still wrapped around his wrist, and she wiped off some sweat beading on his forehead.

“You see what I mean? So idealistic.” Derrick said, his voice cracking. His entire face was marked and bleeding, and his lip was cut. 

“You’re so lucky she’s here right now, man,” Han chuckled. “Or you’d be a fucking pulp right now.”

_ “Princess,”  _ a voice spoke from the PA system. She recognized it as Mon Mothma.  _ “We’ve decided to leave the decision of what to do with Derrick Aberdeen to you. Any option you pick: execution, an attempt to bargain with the Empire or continued imprisonment can be carried out.”  _ She swallowed heavily. She didn’t like any of those options. No matter what Derrick did, she couldn’t imagine taking the boy who’d tugged on her braids and killing, imprisoning or selling him like he was a piece of meat. He was a person. A human being, like Han said.

“I want him to leave,” she intoned. She looked at Derrick deep in his eyes. “I want you to leave. Get the hell out of here. And never come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY! I've been waiting for this one. We have an epilogue next and I will be posting Chapter One of Part Three at the same time so you guys can go ahead and start reading. I should have it posted later today. Thanks for the support on Life Goes On so far! I appreciate all the comments and would love to hear what you guys think of this chapter. Love you!


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue to wrap up Out of the Smoke.

**HAN**

  
  


“Damn, that’s better,” he sighed in relief. Henna was wrapping his knuckles with tape. They were split straight open after punching Derrick so many times. She looked up at him, amused.

“You had a pretty good time today, huh?”

“Was it that obvious?” He grimaced.

“I think everyone was a little relieved to see him finally get what he deserved.” With one glaring exception. Henna seemed to pick up on his thoughts, because as she went back around with another gauze, she looked up at him hesitantly. “I don’t think Leia’s mad, by the way. I think it all just reminds her of the Death Star.”

“I didn’t think about it,” he confessed.

“Do you know where they’re sending him?” Henna asked.

“Tatooine,” he answered. “Luke and Wedge are flying him tomorrow morning, and they’re gonna leave him in Mos Eisley. Who knows. Maybe he’ll make a new life for himself.”

“I think it was a noble choice for her to make,” Henna agreed. Leia walked into the small room, and Henna smiled. “Speak of the devil. Princess, can you finish this? I taught you how, when you first got on Home One. I trust you.” She stood up and hurried out of the room. Leia and Han locked eyes, and though her gaze wasn’t angry, it was cautious. Almost like she was afraid of him. He sighed. He’d wondered what would happen when she finally saw the side of him people didn’t like. The rough side that used to rob cantinas and smuggle illegal substances and pummel guys to death when they insulted the girl he liked. She sat down and picked up the gauze, continuing where Henna left off.

“Everything’s ready for Derrick’s departure,” she informed him quietly. 

“That’s good,” he murmured, brushing a hair away from her forehead with his other hand, which was already taped up. “Hey, Princess, I’m sorry if I was a little intense on him. I didn’t mean to hit him that hard. Or that many times.” She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. “Shit, Leia, I’m sorry. I should have asked Luke to take you out of the room. You shouldn’t have had to watch that.”

“I’m not a child. I don’t need you to protect me.” She wound the gauze a little too tightly and he hissed in pain.

“I know,” he said quickly. “I know that.” She looked at him, her eyes vulnerable and she inhaled deeply before speaking.

“I don’t know what’s going on between us. But I’m not crazy, right? Something’s happening?” Han’s pulse raced.

“No, you’re not crazy.” She sighed in relief. 

“Okay. I just… the last time I tried something like this, he kidnapped me for the Empire. I thought I could trust him, but I couldn’t. And I need to be able to trust you.”

“You can trust me,” Han promised. She looked at him quizzically. 

“Can I?”

“What, did you think the whole saving you thing was a gimmick?” 

“No, it’s the little things, though. You’re always saying you’re gonna leave, and then you don’t, and you said you wouldn’t hurt Derrick, and then you beat him up right in front of me.” She finished wrapping his knuckles and taped them, leaving her hand resting on his.

“I never said I wouldn’t hurt him once we got on Home One,” he reminded her. “And he was a prisoner of war with a wealth of information.”

“So was I,” she said. This brought him to a standstill. She was right, of course. It had been her in that chair on the Death Star. She knew exactly what he went through.

“You were stronger than he was,” he said, brushing her cheek with his fingers. His knuckles still ached, and it was painful to move them, but he needed to feel her. She leaned into his touch, then hugged him where he sat. He stood up to hold her in his arms, and they stood for a moment. She felt so natural in his arms, so right, and he felt her nuzzle into his chest.

“It’s over,” she sighed. “I’m so glad it’s finally over.”

“Yeah.” He ran a hand over her head and breathed deeply, smelling her warm, summer-picnic scent.

“I’m scared to go to sleep,” she whispered.

“Why?”

“I’m afraid he’s gonna come and try to kill me.” Han broke away from her, thinking she was kidding, but when he saw the tremor running over her and the fearful look in his eyes, he hardened. She was truly terrified of Derrick, and of the Empire in general. She had good reason to be, of course, but it was irrational. Derrick was not going to break out of his cell in the presence of so many guards just to come and kill her. But Leia was so consumed by her fear she wasn’t thinking rationally. He pulled her back into his chest, setting his chin on her head.

“Do you want to come sleep on the Falcon tonight?”

“Yes.” She whispered to him. He felt her cry under him, her tears wetting the front of his shirt. “Yes.”

“Okay. You can come sleep on the Falcon. We have plenty of space in the smuggling compartments.” It was an old joke, but she laughed anyways, sniffling against him.

“What now?” She asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “but we’ll get through it. One thing at a time.” Her grip on him tighten and he felt his heart slowly begin to break into a million pieces as he imagined ever losing her. He imagined Darth Vader coming in the middle of the night and taking her, or her disappearing under the angry Mon Cala ocean, or a bounty hunter shooting her dead. It was so painful he could barely breathe, because he was in love with Leia Organa. Plain and simple. He wrapped his arms more protectively around her and closed his eyes, dreading the moment they would have to pull apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, Out of the Smoke comes to an end. I would like to thank you all for being so engaged with this work, commenting and giving so many Kudos! It's been thrilling to recieve so much feedback on the story. I've posted Part Three, titled A Ray of Hope, right now, so you can go ahead and start reading! Leave a comment letting me know what you've thought of this work as a whole and what you're hoping for in the next part. Love you all!


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